DC Parks and Rec

[from John McClarty, via the Petworth listserv]

For those of you who are interested, below is a link to an intriguing article called Show Me the Money about the current administration of the DC Department of Parks and Recreation. It sheds some light on the languishing Petworth Recreation Center project.

http://jrbarras.com/artman/publish/article_110.shtml

Comments

[Joe Martin]

Sean, Barnard is under the control of the DC Public Schools which is not under the Mayor's control nor the City Council but under the realm of the Board of Education. The various recreation centers are under the control of DC Parks and Recreation which is one of the Mayor's agencies -- different government entities but equally frustrating delays in playground construction.

As for Amy's "Where is Fenty?" question, Adrian Fenty has been burning a fire under Kimberly Flower's chair and making appropriate demands, I think. At a meeting I attended in Councilmember Fenty's office in May, he asked Parks and Recreation Director Flowers to show up at every subsequent ANC 4C meeting and provide a progress report. She missed the first meeting after that in June but showed up last month. I have placed the Petworth Recreation Center issue on the agenda for next week's meeting, and I will be expecting to see Director Flowers or her designee there reporting to the community. Again, Parks and Recreation is under the Mayor's control...

[Sean M.]

If any of this story is true, that would explain why the recreation facilities behind Barnard School are still not completed. . .or started.

[Amy C]

Shameful!!! Where is Fenty?