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Council presses for details on recreation staffing, security contract and pool maintenance
Summary
Council members pressed the Parks & Recreation team about staffing levels, security contracts and maintenance spending for recreation centers and pools in the 2025 budget.
The Recreation division’s portion of the 2025 budget drew sustained scrutiny from council members about staffing, programming, facility maintenance and security.
Commissioner Samuel Gissentaner and Parks and Recreation Director Alexandria Nichols answered questions about a wide range of line items, including a notable increase in “other contractual” from prior years to $3,535,000 in the proposed budget. Finance staff said roughly $2.4 million of that total funds recreational security services at facilities; other amounts include youth sports, school‑neighborhood resource programming, summer tennis, skating‑rink management and temporary custodial services.
Council members repeatedly flagged two operational problems: (1) seasonal hiring and vacancy levels in recreation led to a lower year‑end headcount in 2024, and (2) custodial and building maintenance shortfalls have left centers with inconsistent cleaning and deferred repairs. Staff explained the recreation workforce has a high seasonal component; finance said many positions that are budgeted are vacant at the end of December because seasonal staff are laid off in the off‑season.
On security, the department said the existing contractor has not always supplied adequate staffing; the contract was extended on the condition the vendor improve performance while staff prepared an RFP to replace or rebid the service. Several council members asked whether public safety resources could be better coordinated with the police or sheriff to reduce duplicated spending on private security at centers.
Several council members raised pool maintenance and chemicals costs. Staff identified chlorine and other pool chemicals as a driver of the higher “chemical materials and supplies” line and said some maintenance will shift to outside contractors for specialized pool repairs — for example, leak detection and large repairs where city crews do not currently have the equipment or capacity.
Council members also asked for program and attendance data. Finance and the recreation team agreed to provide: a season‑by‑season participation and attendance breakdown (by facility and program), a line‑item breakout of the $3,535,000 “other contractual” figure (security, custodial temporary staffing, youth leagues, community partners), and summary metrics tying headcount, program participation and outcomes to the proposed staffing levels.
Directors acknowledged the scale of work ahead. Nichols said staffing and program titles may be realigned to be more competitive in recruiting and to reflect the work being requested, and both she and Gissentaner said they will pursue clearer program catalogs and better coordination with PIO, the Community Relations Board and outside partners.
