PRIORITIES

Now, more than ever, we need to promote equitable park access for all families, support the climate initiative, and invest in programs for our city’s youth and seniors. As your Park Board Commissioner At-Large, I’ll continue striving to leave a positive legacy for future generations.

Cutting barriers to equitable park access for all Minneapolis residents and families

  • Connect a diverse and multi-generational audience to the benefits of urban natural areas through education, programming, and accessible facilities

  • Sustain safety in parks by design, activation, intervention

  • Mitigate physical barriers to parks access

Growing Minneapolis green space to support climate and environmental resiliency

  • Develop citywide, equity-driven tree canopy preservation plan

  • Develop urban heat-island mitigation plan and enhanced air quality and ecological connections through increased vegetation and landscape intervention

  • Establish baselines and annual targets for greenhouse gas and carbon emissions reduction

  • Activate a Health Equity Lens by more closely measuring environmental detriments in air, water and soil quality and through the development of other core indicators of health and wellness of residents

  • Improve water quality in conjunction with the City through stormwater mitigation and rainwater harvesting

  • Achieve required Clean Water Act standards

  • Restore natural systems

  • Mitigate urban canyons and their impact

Investing in programming for Youth and Seniors

  • Foster Intergenerational Centers of Excellence for youth and elders to thrive together through mutually beneficial programming

  • Build relationships between youth and park staff across all departments to foster youth employment, development, and safety

  • Expand Learn-to-Swim programs as a life-skill necessity

  • Connect environmental education programs to leadership development and sustainable job opportunities

  • Support people’s ability to age in place and enjoy all parks through accessible engagement, programming, facilities, and passive low-impact recreation opportunities

  • Increase efforts to prevent youth violence

  • Build youth/police relationships to foster park safety

  • Invest in Team Teenworks and other proven programs to keep youth from entering the criminal justice system

  • Develop expertise toward longterm stewardship of natural areas in our parks

  • Invest in nature-centered play and programming for all ages

  • Engage older adults in parks and recreation through social connections, creating opportunities and activities

Guiding Parks in a Financially Sustainable Manner

  • Create flexible funding and budgeting that always prioritize core aspects of the agency and support innovation and expansion

  • Measure short-term and long-term financial stability of the park system by the development of empirical, equity-driven data metrics

  • Diversify funding streams to leverage existing funding with grants, site-specific revenue generation, sponsorships, and public/not-for-profit partnerships

  • Reimagine Enterprise fund programs and facilities across the system based on market-driven approaches that balance ecology and recreational uses