Jodie Adams, who was director of Springfield-Greene County Parks from 2006-2011, talks with Jenny Fillmer Edwards, current public administrator for Springfield-Greene County Parks, as they reflect on their time spent working on the Community Focus Report, which is now 20-years-old. Adams joined by phone from Montana, where she now lives.
Michele Skalicky: "Jodie, what years were you parks director?"
Adams: I was fortunate enough to be the director from 2006 through the end of 2011 and then was at the department over 37 years.
Jenny Fillmer Edwards: "And I arrived two months after Jodie departed, so January of 2012 through present."
Skalicky: "I'd like to start by having you talk about your time working on the Community Focus Report over the years in the area of Recreation, Sports and Leisure. And whoever wants to go first, just jump in."
Adams: "Well, I don't, I don't mind starting. You know, one, I'm really happy to be doing this interview with Jenny because, Jenny, I really mean this, you are a very important part of all this with Louise Wahl and also Bob Nelson, because we we were into, at that point when this all started in the early 2000 and actually discussions before that, it was very important that we had a major focus report like this that would report out to our community. That really gave us a barometer as leaders, you know, where were we going? What were we doing? Well, but what were we a little bit lacking on? and what were our challenges ahead? So I can just tell you from being a department head and being one of those people that was involved with this through the end of 2011, I can just tell you this was extremely important to us in the Parks and Recreation Department for city and county. As we were developing, it was extremely important to have this focus report that we could report out to the community and also get input."
Skalicky: "And how about you, Jenny?"
Fillmer Edwards: "So I have been on the steering committee since 2013 through present, and that means that I head up the section of Recreation, Sports and Leisure. I work with a number of folks in our community, both parks employees as well as partners and other folks that, you know, we don't necessarily work with, but that, you know, that are part of the whole recreation, sports and leisure scene in Springfield and Greene County. So putting it together is is a labor of love. It includes a lot of conversations with folks. Some of our key partners in putting this together have been the Sports Commission, which brings so much sports tourism to Springfield. We have reached out and worked with the YMCA to try to add them to the report and make sure that, you know, they are part of Recreation, Sports and Leisure, and so we've made a concerted effort to sort of broaden the scope of what the report covers and still what the Park Board is doing is sort of a lot of the meat of that report. But we really wanted to take a broader look into even some private developments as well."
Skalicky: "How do you feel the report has helped in terms of keeping an eye on the blue ribbons and red flags in the area of Recreation, Sports and Leisure?"
Adams: "Well, from my standpoint, you know, being with it from the very beginning, and like Jenny, being on the steering committee and working through it with so many great chairs and and people heading this, she's right on target. We had such a diversity of groups and input that I believe it really, truly was a community report of not only just Springfield, it really was Greene County. It was working through the whole region almost, because so many things we were doing in our metropolitan area was affecting even some of our area communities. When you start talking about the development, especially in parks and recreation of our Springfield-Greene County intergovernmental system, because we were including, you know, eight other communities throughout the, throughout the region. So it was really far reaching, but it was important to keep everybody on track of also working together in several areas. And here's an example. So when we were working on this and it got into and we went, went into the discussions of what would be in the report, Parks and Recreation and Sports and Leisure really started crossing some partnerships with Community Health. We were working with Education with our school district of school park development. We were working with Transportation with trails and and biking and walking trails. We were working with the Arts and Cultures, with the Creamery development and also the arts in general. And then of course, the Natural Environment and make sure we were doing our job in open space and preservation of our lands. So a lot was going on to actually move forward with this Community Focus Report."
Skalicky: "And Jenny, do you have anything that you'd like to add in terms of how the report has helped keep an eye on the blue ribbons and red flags in Recreation, Sports and Leisure?"
Fillmer Edwards: "Sure. What strikes me about looking at older copies of the report, and I have a couple of them with me here today, are, in the early days, we were very free with our blue ribbons and our red flags, and it was an opportunity to celebrate some real wins for parks. I'm looking at one now that has nine blue ribbons. But as that, as the formatting of the report progressed, we as the steering committee were guided to limit it to three, really three or four over the last few years, and to try to like put those under broader categories. So instead of like a specific win, like we built this park or this thing opened, it's more of a broader like expansion heading, so it's still an opportunity to tell good news with the red flags. I am struck that we have had the same red flags for 15 years, and those are green space preservation; long term stability of funding; and obesity, not in any particular order. That doesn't mean that our community hasn't made progress on those three things, but those are sort of larger, more persistent issues that constantly face not just the Parks Department, but other recreation and sports entities and our community in general. There's no silver bullet for solving obesity, and we're still wondering about long term funding with within parks. And we have not added a lot of green space or acres to parks in the in the 14 years between the two reports that I'm looking at."
Skalicky: "Yeah, I remember back, Jodie, when you were here, you had the opportunity to actually add some park space. And I know a red flag this year in the report is that Springfield-Greene County 'falls far behind the target of two and a half acres per 1000 residents for many parks, neighborhood parks, and small to medium community parks, and even further behind the target, five acres per 1000 for larger urban and metropolitan parks." And I think there was some funding available. Jodie, when you were here, that isn't here now. Can you talk about that? And, you know, your focus on increasing park space while you had the opportunity?"
Adams: "Well, I can tell you that was the back third of, of my career because I had been there around 18, 20 years by the time we started entering into, bringing forward the voter initiative in 1996 to become Springfield-Greene County. And we were growing, golly, the region was growing. But then working on the funding and actually writing the plan with 14 other writers of working through, you know, a community as a park. And when you have a comprehensive plan like that, you have to have the funding. But not only that, it's a 10 year roadmap that we would go and find five year increments for the funding portion, it was a 20-year-old overall plan that would be updated as we went along. But that is what's key about the Community Focus Report. The Community Focus Report came in when we were working through and we had made, and the public had overwhelmingly passed, the Green County sales tax that would support not only the new Springfield-Greene County development within Parks and Recreation, but also for the area communities around us. Fair grove. Walnut grove. Ash grove. Republic. Strafford. Rogersville. You know, Willard. Those were all really important, you know, also including Brookline. So I just share with you. It's a really big picture. When we came forward, not only with the comprehensive plan for Greene County, but also that, again, Springfield was the hub, but it was really important that that funding mechanism was there. And going back to the voters every five years. And we had the plan fully written and actually passed to move forward over the first two rounds of the funding."
Skalicky: "And so, Jenny, what are the challenges today of increasing park space? I know there was funding available through 2012 that's not available anymore. Can you talk a little bit about that and the challenges due to funding or lack of?"
Fillmer Edwards: "Well, sure. Yes. Jody references the 2001 and then the 2006 park sales taxes. There was a third proposal in 2011 that didn't make it onto the ballot, and then that has not returned to the ballot since then. So when she references a 20 year plan and funding for that 20 year plan, we got about halfway through that before the funding sunset. It has been hard since then to undertake new projects or to, in many cases, keep up with repairs and maintenance of many of the things that have been, had been built. So it is — that is the key struggle for parks right now is funding and how do we not only keep up with community expectations for expansion, which at this point we're not really expanding, but just continue to maintain and staff the facilities that we have built?"
Skalicky: "There was a tax question in November that Greene County residents approved. What impact will that have on funding for parks? I know it did include funding for parks projects. Will that make an impact — much of an impact, do you think?"
Fillmer Edwards: "The 3/4-cent sales tax that went before voters and was approved in November had two pieces. One piece of that is specifically earmarked for public safety initiatives, and then about a half a cent out of that three quarter cent is available for initiatives identified in the Forward SGF plan."
Skalicky: "Which is a lot of of different things."
Fillmer Edwards: "Which is Springfield's long range plan, and we have hopes and dreams in that plan that were identified by citizens in our community and a lot of cool stuff that we would like to further develop, but we don't have a funding stream for that. And, you know, the whole plan doesn't, didn't have a funding stream. So that half cent for the next 10 years, my understanding is that that is designated for those projects that were identified in Forward SGF. It is not a park sales tax by any means. It's a citywide tax. The city council will figure out how that money is allocated, and they put out some guidelines on the kinds of projects that will, and will have more of a likelihood of going forward. And it's a long, it's a long, detailed list of the criteria, but things that lead to further economic development are among them. So we at parks are hopeful that some of that funding would come toward parks projects. But there is a criteria for how the city council will parse that money out."
Skalicky: "So what is the solution? I mean, it, you know, a stable, long term funding source for parks, trails and sports infrastructure has been highlighted as a red flag in the Community Focus Report since 2009. Do you foresee any effort to maybe come up with another ballot proposal that could potentially be put before voters?"
Fillmer Edwards: "I'm not aware of any discussions of that."
Skalicky: "Okay."
Fillmer Edwards: "And to answer your question, what is the solution? If we knew the solution, it wouldn't be a red flag."
Skalicky: "That's true."
Adams: "Well, I just think it's really important that to note that, you know, when we did pass the sales taxes back in 2001 and 2006, that was a concentrated effort and focused with Greene County and and the City of Springfield working together. I think that continues to have to be the focus of both organizations to come forward for supporting some type of funding system for the overall parks and recreation system. You know, those were quarter cent sales tax. There was one third on there for capital development and one third on there for perpetuity for operations and maintenance. Now, with that said, let's be in reality, you know, when we were going through our second round, I'll never forget we hit the recession second round of sales tax. Luckily, parks had put together a three year plan to make sure that we could make it through any type of challenge like that to operate the system, and we made it through to make sure that we could support with reserves and different areas of containing the system, because we I remember very vividly budget hearings that were going on with the city, obviously, and county with the recession. But what has happened, and we know that this has happened through state legislation and just national trends, is you've had increases in minimum wage that have, you know, been needed, but they definitely have put strain on not only the park system, but other systems that had pretty much projected out, you know, the funding system. So a lot of things have maybe changed that have put more strain on the funding systems in some of the areas of the operations of maintenance. So again, I, I'm with Jenny. I mean, there does need to be a future, you know, a future — very thankful. I did hear, I don't live in Missouri anymore, but I did hear that there was passage in November by the city of Springfield and the citizens to move forward with some improvements and developments. But I think the bottom line, Michele, is Jenny's right. There will be something that needs to be addressed down the road for more park support and development. But in no way do we want to diminish what has been done. There has been great support for parks for decades. And if you look at when we became the Springfield-Greene County Park Board in 2013, so I can tell you from a long time resident and person that grew up in Springfield and then was fortunate enough to have a career and help improve Springfield-Greene County, the voters, the people, it's the people's parks. And they have been tremendous."
Skalicky: "Well, I can tell you, every time I go to a public park here in Springfield, there are always a lot of people on a nice day. So people do appreciate their parks. Jenny, do you have anything to add to that?"
Fillmer Edwards: "Sure. A couple things, actually. Jodie hits it on the head right here with minimum wage. Minimum wage has almost — by the end of next year, will have almost doubled in the past seven or eight years. Those were voter approved initiatives that — the first one was not necessarily on our radar before it hit the ballot and then it was passed. And then it's happened again, where, you know, we didn't necessarily see the minimum wage hike coming that is now taking place January 1st of this year following the November election. That's a pretty quick turnaround for us to try to cover the wage increase while covering all of the services that workers at that level are providing. And that's anything from concessions, cashiers, some levels of newer lifeguards, child care. We do have quite a few positions that are affected either directly by the minimum wage, as in they are minimum wage positions, or compression as, you know, if you're making a quarter or $0.35 above, now that has to move up as well. It's an expensive prospect, and that is just one of the challenges that we are working through right now. But it's a big one. Another one is, for years, because we have not had a capital funding stream, we've had a number of projects that we've had deferred maintenance on, and that, as anyone who owns a house or property knows, you can only defer maintenance for so long before it really starts catching up with you and in some cases gets more expensive. So those are two of the big things that we're struggling with or we're working through right now. Just to sort of give an example of, you know, what does not having enough money look like? Those are those are two of the big ones. And, you know, we're having discussions and we're working through it and things may look a little bit different, but we're trying to get through that with as minimal impact to the public as possible. You had asked about sort of the legacy of the report, or maybe that's just how I wanted to put it, is part of the legacy of this, of the Community Focus Report that has been very gratifying, is that it's been picked up by several institutions, several nonprofits, among them Leadership Springfield, who has been, they have been using this as sort of a guiding light for their programs, for their year round Leadership Springfield program. So when we meet with that group, which is regularly, the blue ribbons and the red flags for Recreation, Sports and Leisure are always a part of that conversation. And those are Springfield's leaders and leaders who will emerge in a few years, leaders in training. And it's very important for leadership Springfield to know what's going on. It's important to us for them to know what's going on in our sector of the economy. But, you know, the the community as a whole."
Skalicky: "And I know the report's going to continue in a in a different form, similar but different form. The Ozarks Public Health Institute is taking it over. So the report sounds like it's going to be around for for quite some time. Is there anything else that you guys would like to add or would like to say about either the current state of parks or something that you remember Jodie from when you were director that you want to talk about?"
Adams: "Michele, I'm glad you brought it up because, you know, let me just give you a little national view and how Springfield was ahead of the game and still ahead of the game. So I really want to focus on sharing with everyone, and this is from a standpoint of still being very involved with the National Recreation and Park Association as a past president, and I serve on committees still nationally, the bottom line is in the scheme of national level with, involving our local communities and agencies, Springfield was ahead of the game. And I really credit the Dan Kenneys, the Fred Mays, the Bob Conleys, the Tom Finnies, the Tim Smiths and the councils, city councils, commissions and park boards. And here's the bottom line, the community volunteers that came forward to develop the park system. This is what took place. We were leading in health and wellness. We were leading in equity. We were leading in preservation and conservation. That are — those are, there's environmental stewardship that's going on and resiliency. These are pillars of the nation today with parks across this country. Springfield and Greene County was addressing those early on over three, four decades to really make sure that we had adequate — and we still are challenged by obesity. Missouri is not the only location. Springfield is not the location and our metro area, but really we have been addressing that over the years, also for decades been addressing obviously the the preservation of open space. But again, with the growth, you're still trying to keep up with the growth of the population and development of the region and then, bottom line is, services to make sure that we have enough services for everyone. I just want to compliment the leaders and the citizens for really coming together and understanding that, hey, Springfield and Greene County is special. We have so many great things going on, but we needed to make sure our infrastructure was there. But definitely today really hope to see more funding coming forward because Springfield and Greene County is not done. It's not done. There still needs to be addressed some of the flags that Jenny had talked about and you've talked about, but Springfield and Greene County is resilient, and we can do it. I just know that we can do it."
Fillmer Edwards: "Just like to add that Springfield and Greene County has a lot to be proud of, both within our park system and all of the other partners and nonprofits and private entities that are providing recreation, sports and leisure in our community. Specific to the Park Board, we are very proud that we are a leader still in our among parks nationally. We are nationally accredited and have been since 2016. We maintain a number of strategic partners with partnerships with partners throughout our community that lead to really cool things like Ozark Greenways, like Friends of the Garden, like Friends of the Zoo, and we have a lot of facilities that are award winning and things that people that live in this community and visit this community are very proud of. And just wanted to mention Dickerson Park Zoo, fully accredited, accredited since 1987. TheSpringfield Botanical Gardens at Nathaniel Greene-Close Memorial Park. Many of those gardens are award winning, and that whole area would not be possible without an army of volunteers. We have numerous sports complexes, and we're very excited that we are reinvesting in Cooper Park out on Pythian and in the sports fields — soccer, baseball and softball fields out there. There is a lot to be proud of in our community, and our story is not over."
Skalicky: "Well, thank you guys so much for joining me today. Jodie Adams from Montana and Jenny Fillmer Edwards here in the studio. Thanks to both of you guys."
Adams: "Thank you. And Michele, thank you so much for this conversation. And I can just tell you right now, as a past gold medal award winning system from 2000, a lot of progress has been made and it really is owed to the citizens. Thank you to both you and Jenny."
Fillmer Edwards: "Thank you. Michele."
