Advocacy: Why Parks Can't Wait 'til 2028

The People of the Parks podcast is back this month and we're talking all things advocacy – a timely topic as Austin is currently in a bond cycle! Suzy and Taylor are joined by first-time guest, Advocacy Manager, Alyssa Vargas. Together, they dig into why advocacy is important, where the bond stands and what's next. Once you're done listening, head to austinparks.org/blog to learn more about how the bond process works and what you can do to help our parks right now. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

One hour of silence with random Michael Jackson voices. Hello, hello, and welcome back to People of the Parks, the official podcast of Austin Parks Foundation. I'm your host, Susie, and today I am joined by my fantastic co-host Taylor. Hello, hello. Well, I'm excited today because we have another very special first-time guest joining us in the pod. Give it up for our advocacy manager, Alyssa Vargas! Hello, honey. Alyssa, welcome to the pod. I'm so happy to be here with you both. Thank you so much for having me. Oh my god, we are so happy to have you. We love having new peeps on the pod.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

We do. And they always worry about being on the pod only to come in and be brilliant.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

I think you're the first person outside of the marketing home that we've had on the pod who hasn't like expressed hesitation about.

SPEAKER_02 0:59

Public speaking is why I I was hired here at APF. So I feel that that was a lot of my background. And yeah, the newest member now is shitting in the world.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

She's born, she's born for this. You have the voice for a podcast, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

You know, I have not done a podcast before, but I do a lot of public speaking, and I think that this would be my preferred method of communication is no one sees me, but you hear my voice. The dulcet tones behind the mic.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

It's giving like easy listening. Like I I feel like I want to hear you like put on a like a jazz album, like a Sunday night.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

This is APF radio. Listening to soft jazz on 101.5.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

Well, so Alyssa, you joined us at I think a really exciting, really busy time at APF. Particularly for you in advocacy, but also because you came on right towards the tail end of April, which was when we were ramping up for Greater and Greener.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Yes. We've talked about Greater and Greener on our last pod uh podcast episode. But when we were at the conference this year, because it was Taylor and mine, our first Greater and Greener. Our first. But I think we really learned I don't I would say overall, even. Yeah. Like all staff really learned how APF is one similar to other parks organizations, but also something that really sets us apart, and it is your role that you've stepped into.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

So it's very timely, not only for your work that you're here, but for like me and Taylor's understanding of the large, larger parks ecosystem. So we're really excited to have you.

SPEAKER_02 2:39

I would agree. Um, advocacy is a huge role in parks. And when we were at Greater and Greener, there was not as many park advocates or people that were specifically like designated to be parks advocates. They were usually executive directors or the people who go and advocate for our parks or their further nonprofit or conservancy. And so yeah, my role is pretty special and one of a kind throughout the state.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

I think even like people were coming up to me in my sessions and talking about, oh, it's amazing, like the advocacy work that you do. So it's really something that I think people are interested in and people in the park space know is important and look up to. So Alyssa. Let's get into it for the listeners at home, shall we? Okay. What is parks advocacy all about? Like, why are we why is there even a need to advocate for parks?

SPEAKER_02 3:31

Yeah. Um, well, I'll just start off with Austin Parks and Recreation is the largest department in our city. Um, so we have over 800 staffers that are working so hard for our parks, and that does not include nonprofits like Austin Parks Foundation, where um, or conservancies that we have across town that support Austin Parks and Recreation and the work that they do. Parks advocacy is a way to uh voice the concerns and speak for the trees. So to say, I I would say that my role model in this role is the Lorax. Absolutely. And the job that we as environmental advocates are called to do is is to speak for Mother Nature that doesn't have the voice themselves, right? Um, and also to to speak to those spaces that bring our community closer together and bring our parks to be what they are. And right now, Austin Parks and Recreation is facing a lot of funding shortfalls as a lot of other city entities, everyone is, you know, um, with federal cuts, all of the different state appropriations that are happening. Um, Austin Parks and Recreation is struggling um for funding, like many. And so it is really dire that we have advocates and people within these spaces to continue to push for change um and to to preserve parts of the city that we still want to see um available to us.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

To speak, to give voice to the voiceless spaces, like our parks. Well, everybody loves parks. I think that's something we learned not only at the conference, but just from being alive in Austin. Absolutely. I mean that's a huge reason why I ended up in Austin was all the green space. Yeah, well, and it's a big reason why I made my way back to Austin. So you're there when the big decisions are being made. Again, you're the voice for our parks, right?

SPEAKER_02 5:38

Yeah, yeah, I am. Um, I'm there. I do a lot of watching our parks board meetings, I do a lot of watching all of the city council meetings, um, a lot of audited finance is super important to how we fund infrastructure in the city, so it's important that we keep our eyes on that, as well as the environmental commission in the city. Watershed conversations um impact our parks greatly. So my hands are kind of in every meeting across the city, and sometimes I'm supposed to be in four places at once, but um it's more about the information that you can collect from all of that and how we use it to our advantage. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:22

I was gonna see, I've seen you in the office, or we recently were out at Rosewood doing a popsicle party with the pavilion and playground that was just finished, and Alyssa was there with her phone listening into the city council meeting, as well as representing APF as our advocacy manager and speaking to a potential future city council meeting. Oh my gosh, yeah. While being present for the popsicle party.

SPEAKER_02 6:51

Right, no, I had like yeah, two different meetings going on, and then I was like, and this Rosewood playground and this cabin here, APF just yeah, I'm I'm everywhere all at once. So I have I've seen a lot of it.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

Um I think it's interesting to hear, and something like Taylor and I have learned working with you is that it's not such a straightforward process. There's not just like one group that makes decisions for our parks. Like you said, it's truly all over the place, which is I think why it's so important that the parks have more than just one voice.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

As we mentioned, you've been deep in advocacy efforts this summer. What's been top of the list for parks?

SPEAKER_01 7:32

What's going on in the parks?

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Yeah, yeah. Um, as you mentioned earlier, I I've been here for three months, and my first week, I started with a parks board meeting immediately. Dove in headfirst. I had to dive in head first, and that required a a lot of catching up to do um internally on what APF, what our mission was, right, for advocacy, and then as well as what conversations have already been existing for the last 18 months, and so I came in 18 months late into what is being most talked about right now, which is the city's bond process.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

Um, I immediately jumped right into the bond process that's happening statewide, and that was um a huge priority for APF going forward to make sure that our parks receive funding for um the citywide department and for all parks, right? Uh 18 months ago, they started this process of of drafting the bond and now going through the bond election advisory task force, which I got to close off with one of my first public comments here at APF. Oh, awesome.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

This this is like city councils creating the bond, who's creating the bond, where like where did that task force come from? Yeah, so let's let's just give some context there.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

Um take us on a journey. Taking you on a journey. Uh a general obligation bond is a way for city to pay for critical infrastructure and um huge capital projects, right? And so um those funds cannot be used towards maintenance, but it is for improvements and repairs and replacements, and this year Austin Parks are up for a bond because it has been eight years since we've last received funding for a bond. And we are supposed to be on a six-year cycle, um, and instead we are two years overdue.

SPEAKER_01 9:41

So what does that mean for how the parks are operating right now?

SPEAKER_02 9:46

In 2018, the city received $149 million in um bonds, and since then we have spent and allocated that full amount.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

What uh the full amount has already been placed to projects. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

I was gonna say we heard about this too at the Montopoulos ribbon cutting where that community group spoke to how they were deep in it in the 2018 bond cycle and had really been proponents for Montopoulos. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

Montopoulos pool is like one of the biggest examples that I share along with the Givens Rec Center. Um, because Montopoulos had to fail before it could get investment into it. So um it failed, and then a year later they they started up that project because it had already become inoperable. And Givens was kind of the same thing where you know it started as a simple roof maintenance and then it doubled in size when they opened up the building and they found all of these cascading problems for Austin Parks and Rec.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

As you know, happens a lot of times with older buildings, with it city infrastructure in any city. Yeah, absolutely. As buildings age.

SPEAKER_02 11:04

APR's average uh life for a facility is about 50 years old. So that's like the average like time span that all of these different facilities and that's like way without these much needed repairs that are occurring.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

Yeah. So what I'm hearing is the money is needed, and we have concrete examples of what we could be losing if these facilities, if the parks don't have this money for this infrastructure. We could lose pools, sounds like we could lose rec centers, playgrounds. Yeah. I mean, that would certainly not ever be uh ideal, right?

SPEAKER_02 11:44

We are we are trying our best to try to find funding to make sure we, as in the city, along with Austin Parks Foundation and partners, a lot of environmental advocates, transportation advocates as well, uh, we've all kind of joined forces together to try to advocate on behalf of of our city parks to get this done. And yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:08

And the bond can touch all ten city districts with parks. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 12:14

And that's the important part is is APF doesn't uh usually name certain projects that we want funded because we really do believe in the equitable distribution of these funding mechanisms, right? And making sure that each district gets something in order to to have this bond to be successful.

SPEAKER_01 12:35

Absolutely. Well, I know I have certainly learned a lot from working with you on this bond cycle. I feel like agreed. Agreed. Um, like the different things that we've touched on in I know something you you and Taylor have been working on, the educational component of this bond cycle with those videos that you guys made for social. Um, like things that can be funded through a bond versus through a budget, like labor and the cost of park infrastructure. Can you talk a little bit to that?

SPEAKER_02 13:06

Yeah, sure thing. Um yeah, so the bond cannot fund or pay for any of our deferred maintenance at Austin Parks and Recreation. It can't go towards um the employees' salaries or it can't go to everyday operations because bond money is not reliable, right? It's not like the city's budget. We don't get it every year. And so if we were to put bonds towards somebody's salary, or we were to say, hey, this bond money is going to go towards maintaining this certain pool, then when we run out of that money, we're out of that money and we can no longer keep going towards things. So bond dollars are used towards these big capital projects, these replacements, and ones that we have already been doing. Some examples of the 2018 bond include uh the Colony Park Pool in District 1. Love the Highland neighborhood, neighborhood park improvements in district four, uh the Circle C Rance Metro Park Playground replacement in District Eight.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

Um I was gonna say that Highland Neighborhood Park. Um we were out there for the bridge installation.

SPEAKER_01 14:16

Oh yes! Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

We also during an It's My Park Day, um Katie and I were out there and we spoke to one of the adopters, and she said she used to take her kids there years ago, and they would call it Ditch Park because it was truly just like a ditch, but it was a big field so they could play in it. Now, I think there's a baseball field, there's a playground, an amazing playground. Yes, it's public. There's spaces, connectivity uh yes, there's still a large field for kids to run around in the city. I thought you were gonna say there's still a large ditch. No, no, no, there's still a large field, and now there's also like a trail around throughout the entire park. Um, and the accessibility piece of there's a bridge that people can walk over the little creek right there and get to the park more easily versus having to walk up to a main road, walk around the main road, or walk through a sometimes dry, sometimes very wet ditch.

SPEAKER_02 15:13

Yeah. Yeah, all made possible from the 2018 bond dollars that went to over 140 projects across the city.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

Oh, and you did you touched on it a little bit, the art in public places. I mean, it's it's so cool, it's just beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 15:26

Move it is a good one. I was wondering, I was like, why does that name sound familiar to me? Thank you, Taylor. Well, and that's all really interesting stuff for us, not only as you know, park people in tra by trade, but as park lovers. Yes. To understand where the funding for these spaces that we really, really love and that make an impact and change so frequently comes from. I agree.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

Yeah, I mean, I feel like so many people love parks and are rightfully passionate about improving or protecting them. Particularly in Austin. Yes. Um but I think Susie has touched on this and I'll touch on it again. Like for those of us like us who work in parks every day, we are also continuing to learn right alongside you about the intricacies of what can and cannot be done, what the bond is able to fund, how the city utilizes a bond versus utilizes their yearly budget. Like it's been fascinating for us, I think.

SPEAKER_01 16:26

Four years deep, and we're still learning.

SPEAKER_00 16:28

We are we are.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

Uh Barry, whenever I had onboarded, shout out to Barry, he had mentioned that this is a lifelong learning process. Oh, I would everything in our park space, like there's just so much to learn. And yeah, I advocacy is a very fast pace. Any politics, any any of government, you know, it runs really fast and it requires you to be on um kind of constantly so that you're ready. And a huge saying that I remember from my early days of advocacy is is stay ready so you don't have to get ready. Oh. And yeah, I I try to stay ready as possible. Oh, sports. Oh my god. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

She literally brought it back to sports well.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

But I do love that, and I feel like you have done a really good job of absolutely staying ready and helping the rest of us here at APF to stay ready and knowledgeable.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

And it seems as though things are still moving. We're still underway with the bond. So, what update can you give us about where the bond stands right now, July 30th, 2026? I forgot what year it was.

SPEAKER_02 17:52

Yeah. Um let's see. We have had a lot of postponements. It has been a crazy cycle if you were following it like me, or if you are another advocate in a different uh social service space or whatever that may look like, it has been changing constantly. And so City Council was supposed to vote on the bond at the end of May. Um, and then they postponed it for some more deliberation over the summer.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 18:21

And then they were supposed to vote on it July 23rd. Okay. That was also postponed.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

There were like 600 people signed up to speak at that meeting, correct?

SPEAKER_02 18:33

Yes, on a different topic. So the 600, maybe some of them were for the bond. I know I was there for the bond. And I know some other advocates were there for the bond. We're gonna say it was an even 50-50 special. And so it ended up being postponed. As of right now, the day to speak on the bond and for city council to vote on the bond is going to be August 4th. So if there was really anything I could say in this podcast, say it, girl. And I've set in some educational videos, I've said it at City Council. Um, I would encourage all of our park lovers to to go and advocate for our park spaces to City Council. You know, there's there's been so many deliberations and a lot of back and forth on considerations on what to do and how to go about this. And it is really, I think democracy is perfect in the way that it it can really demonstrate why and who needs it most. And if we show up and and show them that we care about our parks, I think that that will be very impactful in the vote. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

Beautifully said. So let's say I am one of those people. Oh, you took it.

SPEAKER_00 19:55

I was gonna ask. Are you gonna ask? I was gonna ask Well, I was just gonna say, so that's where we are right now. How can we go about getting an advocacy alert? What does that look like? Can I get them right into my inbox? Are you continually updating folks? What does that look like?

SPEAKER_02 20:12

Yeah. There is a couple of ways to be a parks advocate with the help of APF. So the first one would be to subscribe to our advocacy newsletter, as you just mentioned. Um, and that is on our website under advocacy, and you can sign up for a newsletter which will get an email directly from me that will state, you know, here's why we need you to show up and speak out. And um, that is probably the best resource for getting our information. There are some couple blogs on the APF website, and of course, we've got social media up describing all of these things. And then, of course, the ways to advocate. Um, there are so many. The first you can call, email your council member, the mayor. That's a big one. Um, you can show up to next week's city council meeting on August 4th and and let them see a face-to-face. You can share why your park matters with your neighbors. Um, I think oftentimes our neighbors or our community doesn't know what's going on until we we talk about it with one another, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:20

So true, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:21

And that's how information is is really passed. And so I would just, yeah, encourage encourage others to participate in the process and and talk about it with um your your friends and family.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

Spread the word. And again, that sign up link is on our website. You can also go to Austinparks.org slash connect, and there's a handy little button for you to sign up. Make sure you select park advocacy under your interests, and you'll hear from Alyssa straight to your inbox with all those updates. And they're phenomenal, I have to say. They are.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

They are like I I we really are learning alongside you, and it's been a lot of fun for us, I think.

SPEAKER_01 21:58

Well, Alyssa, thank you. So much for coming on the pod. Two talk advocacy with us. Can I get on my soapbox really quickly? Soapbox it up.

SPEAKER_02 22:06

Well, I will just say that we need a robust park spawn now. We, as in, we the people of the city. We yes, we the people. We the people of Austin. We the people demand to have our parks funded. Yes. And repaired and operating. You know, it's really, really sad for me to be able to like having to talk about maintaining our existing facilities and like keeping them alive and operable. And we're not even thinking about expanding or trying to meet the growing population here in Austin. We're still trying to play catch up with parks funding. Yeah. I mean, we have so many new residents. We've got a lot of new land that has been annexed. And instead, like we aren't seeing funding levels that allow us to expand at that same rate that the city is growing. And I think that's the hugest point of this conversation is that we are we are struggling to maintain like operation versus the city being able to expand into our parks to think more like proactively.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

We're having a sort of play defense on keeping up our park.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

That's my soapbox. It's just I think it's really important. And there are so many other cities like Dallas, San Antonio, Fort Worth, that have received parks bonds in the last couple of years, you know, and they are growing and they have better park scores. Um because they are continuing to invest in their parks and their existing facilities. And Austin is is I mean, even the 250 million is a is a bit lower than other cities have been funding their projects through bonds. And yeah, we're in we're in desperate need of it. And I'll get off my soapbox now. But that's it.

SPEAKER_01 23:57

No, I loved that impassioned plea for the parks because it's true. We need them. The parks can't wait until 2028. Oh well, Alyssa, thank you again so much for coming on the pod to talk advocacy with us and to kind of light a fire under us to advocate for our parks. I know I'm gonna call city council after this as a private citizen. Thank you for having me. It's time for the board. I can't wait for Katie to be back to all in on the bridge. I know.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

I do well, I really just don't want to like blow out shine you as though you could. That's really what it is. Like, I know how much you love.

SPEAKER_01 24:44

I do. I love shouting greets on this almost as much as I love a good community volunteer event. Like we have coming up this Saturday, August 1st, at Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park. Up near me. Oh yeah, and Katie. Yes. From 9 to 11 a.m., you can join us to collect native seeds, remove invasive species, and reseed the restoration areas.

SPEAKER_00 25:08

Love that. There's also another community volunteer event taking place Tuesday, August 4th, at Sanchez School Park from 9 to 11 a.m. And we will be helping to maintain and keep up the maintenance needs for the park, especially as the school year is coming up. Oh yeah, very important.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Speaking of volunteering, it is that time of year again. Drum roll. Yeah. It's almost time for the ACL volunteer applications to go live. They're coming soon. Soon.

SPEAKER_02 25:38

I was an APF volunteer at ACL. Were you? Before I was an APF employee. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 25:47

Wait, we're not we're not there yet. It's the next oh you're right.

SPEAKER_00 25:52

Okay, but if you do want to be the first to hear about when the ACL volunteer applications are opening. Because they close quickly, y'all. These are coveted spots. Yes. Subscribe to our newsletter and make sure that you select volunteering and park advocacy under your interests. Love that. Again, that's austonparks.org slash connect.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

And finally, another Alyssa in point to APF, I think. Good catch. Do you want to go ahead and read this one?

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Oh, yes. Okay, so Summer Fitness in the Park series is still going strong. Every Friday morning, join our friends at Habitat Retreat for a morning yoga session, followed by a cold plunge at Barton Springs. Um I have been going almost every Friday. Religiously. And I also have been going for the last four years.

SPEAKER_00 26:39

When Taylor told me that, I was like, oh my God, it was fake.

SPEAKER_02 26:43

It would be.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

And I was able to tell uh Kennan and Kerrigan, and they were like, we love that. And they remember obviously like that.

SPEAKER_02 26:49

Yeah, because we started off as like 20 people. Yes, it started so much. Like very much smaller than what it is now, and it's grown into something really wonderful. And um as a former yogi, as someone who really um tries to get to the mat every day, it is a great flow, really great energy, and I feel like it's a very non-judgmental space to like just take in that that Friday morning um right before you get into the busy of your weekend. Totally.

SPEAKER_00 27:20

We had quite a few APF staff last Friday, including Freddie, who was flowing in his socks and our development intern, Joaquin, was there. King. I've gone twice this summer, and those two Fridays, I have been up and moving so much more than my normal Fridays. Like it really does just get your day going and kicks off your weekend.

SPEAKER_01 27:43

You've heard it here first, guys. This is still going through the summer. Yeah. So join join us for yoga, 7 a.m. at Zilker Park.

SPEAKER_02 27:51

Yeah, check out our event calendar for that information and the links to register. Sometimes they have raffles. Uh they did some shoe raffles last time. And it really is. It's something for all ages, all abilities. I've seen young and old, I've seen dogs, humans, um, everyone's doing yoga. A lot of dogs out there.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

Yeah, there are. A lot of dogs. But that about does it for this month's People of the Parks. Thanks again to Alyssa, our advocacy manager, for joining us on today's pod.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

Like the podcast, give us a five-star rating, and share with your fellow park loving friends. As always, follow us on social media at AustinParks F DN. And hey, tag us in your summer parks adventures. Please. Until next time, I'm Susie. And I'm Taylor. And we'll see you outside.