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Mexico parks director outlines staffing, pool changes and cemetery capacity in annual report
Summary
City Parks & Recreation Director Chad Ed Runners told the Mexico City Council the department added two pool slides and raised attendance and revenue but now requires more lifeguards; he also reported on cemetery capacity, brush pad upgrades, a dog park schedule and a contracted master-plan timeline.
Chad Ed Runners, director of Mexico Parks & Recreation, told the City Council at its regular meeting that the department’s priorities for 2025 include operational adjustments at the municipal pool, completion of a brush-pad extension, work on cemetery storage and a community master plan for parks.
Runners said the department’s mission is “to provide a safe and professional, high quality, affordable leisure and recreation service to the residents of Mexico,” and emphasized a staff-culture program summarized by the acronym HEART (honor, effort, attitude, respect, teamwork).
Runners outlined staffing and facilities: the parks division has nine full-time staff; pool staffing includes a manager, assistant manager and about five front‑desk cashiers; lifeguard staff ran about 20–25 last season. He said the two new pool slides added for 2024 increased attendance and revenue, and that pool revenue rose by roughly $9,700 compared with 2023. “As far as the cost recovery … it is about 52 to 56%,” Runners said.
During council questions, a councilmember raised concerns that slides had increased the number of lifeguards needed and that earlier estimates when the pool remodel was approved had suggested fewer lifeguards would be required. The councilmember said the expected lifeguard savings were a factor in approving the design and asked who was responsible for the change. Runners replied that the slides require additional coverage because they typically need a staff member at both the top and the bottom of each slide.
Runners also reported other 2024 highlights and 2025 projects: the brush pad at the forestry yard was doubled in size and will move to two days of winter operation (Wednesdays and Saturdays); a two‑person lift arrived for tree work; a shelter damaged by hail in Northeast Park was repaired; the dog‑park materials have been ordered and the project remains on track for February–March completion; and an entrance project at Tarnar Lou Park is being coordinated with public works.
On cemetery operations, Runners said the city completed a new storage/building for cemetery operations and recorded 55 burials last year. He said about 300 plots remain for sale, which the department estimates will provide roughly eight to ten years of remaining capacity. The department also has a capital project to build a dry dirt bin and to demolish an existing structure described in the meeting transcript as the “Kwanzaa hut.”
Runners said the pool still carries debt service that runs through fiscal year 2031 but credited the city’s finance staff for securing a favorable interest rate. He also listed routine parks activities such as mowing, tree planting, and participation in Earth Day and Arbor Day; he said the city has been recognized as a Tree City for about 45 years (not consecutively).
The council thanked Runners for the report. No formal council action was taken on Parks & Recreation items at this meeting; Runners said staff would bring budget or capital items back as needed.
Ending: The council directed staff to continue work on the master plan timeline and noted the dog-park and brush-pad work as near-term operational items to watch.
