Takeaways From Maddox's PARA Pitch To County Commission

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Mayor Walt Maddox paid a visit to the Tuscaloosa County Commission on Wednesday, where he presented his ideas for a new funding and oversight model for Tuscaloosa County Park & Recreation Authority (PARA).

The pitch was similar to the one given to the Northport City Council in May as Maddox lobbies for the restructuring of both the financial contributions to the metro parks agency and the governing structure.

Click here to read our recent coverage of the proposed funding model and other policy points laid out by the mayor's office for the upcoming year.

Fast Facts

• According to PARA's proposed fiscal year 2021 budget, the facilities in the city limits will have over a $1 million deficit across five activity centers in Tuscaloosa, compared to county facilities breaking even as a whole.
• Maddox's plan would create an executive committee to make recommendations to the PARA Board of Directors, which he says will promote accountability and engagement.
• Tuscaloosa County has increased its funding of PARA by 227% since 2005, compared to a 49% increase by the City of Tuscaloosa and a 17% increase from Northport.
• From February 2020 through March 2021, officials report that activity center attendance was down nearly 50% for PARA facilities both in the City of Tuscaloosa and Tuscaloosa County.

Here are my takeaways from the mayor's funding pitch to the County Commission.

A pressing need ...

Debate may persist on the operations for PARA, but a common point agreed upon by stakeholders from the three different governmental entities can be found in the need to restructure PARA to improve amenities that have been neglected with respect to upgrades.

Maddox pointed out that while the county has newer facilities such as the Faucett Brothers Activity Center, the city's facilities have lagged those in the county when it comes to the quality of its amenities, despite being used and enjoyed by those from all over the metro.

The mayor pointed out that in the proposed FY21 budget for PARA, Faucett Brothers Activity Center would come out at a $225,000 profit, while the Jerry Tingle Center — which is still in "startup" mode — is also expected to turn a profit in the future.

"I can't speak for the county's facilities, but I think the city's are worse," he said. "We've got to be thinking about how much do we want to lose, and what do we get for that."

Maddox said the popularity of the county's facilities, which he said are used four times more than city PARA locations, underscores the need for increased collaboration.

Oversight debate

Perhaps the most visceral response from the County Commission came when Maddox introduced the possibility of creating a separate executive committee to make recommendations to the PARA Board of Directors.

In pitching the structure, Maddox mentioned other collaborations that have worked out well in recent years, including the Tuscaloosa Metro Animal Shelter, E911, the Tuscaloosa County Jail and the Tuscaloosa County Road Improvement Commission.

"I thought about PARA," he said. "Is there a model we could replicate?"

Maddox said the board would function in a way similar to the Tuscaloosa County Economy Development Authority's board, providing a top-down cultural change to PARA's structure.

The board would consist of three members from the PARA Board of Directors, along with elected officials and other appointed members, with checks and balances in place to ensure that one entity would not have too much sway on the board.

This component, however, is what would draw raised eyebrows from the County Commission as talks began to stall on Wednesday.

Skeptical reception

Murray was the most impassioned commissioner in opposition to Maddox' pitch, expressing first his confusion over why the city has done so little to maintain its PARA facilities, while those in the county continue to outperform them.

"Qualitatively, our facilities are not modern and not state of the art like in the county," the mayor responded, before mentioning future plans for the city's recently passed 1% sales tax. "The city built its facilities in the 90s and haven't done a good job of upgrading. Part of [Elevate Tuscaloosa] is rethinking facilities and positioning them in a way to be popular for the community."

Murray was unconvinced, though, and explained that in his interactions with county residents using PARA amenities, he often hears of residents cancelling memberships at private gyms and locations, in favor of memberships at PARA facilities such as the Faucett Brothers Activity Center.

"I believe we need to look at how the city is approaching parks and recreation, and if the county has a model that's working, then that's where we need to start and not set up these committees that, in my opinion, is an attempt to control and direct PARA," he said.

Maddox disagreed and countered by asking Murray if he was satisfied with the current status of Kaulton Park in District 4, which happens to be one of the PARA parks in the city limits and in need of additional attention to bring it up to the level of other parks around the metro.

"We're not asking for direct control of PARA," he said. "The [proposed] board is evenly split among funding partners, with PARA having the largest allocation of members. It's bigger than just the activities center. We are determining a path forward."

Before Maddox could finish his next thought, however, Murray interrupted, saying the current governance structure has worked well in the past with PARA's Board of Directors, claiming the group has historically looked at the county "as a whole," with respect to PARA operations and amenities.

"For the city to try to control and dictate the services we're providing to all of the citizens of the county and to take the approach of 'we're going to break up something that's working' — It's unfair to the citizens of the county," Murray said.

At one point in the meeting, Probate Judge and Commission Chair Rob Robertson exercised authority in saying the conversations were ceasing to be productive as the back-and-forth between Maddox and Murray persisted.

District 1 Commissioner Stan Acker voiced his support of Murray's viewpoint, though, calling it a "non-starter" to give the City of Tuscaloosa more control over PARA operations.

"That board has done well over these years, so why do we want to give control to the city?" Acker asked. "If the city wants to go their own way ... then go."

Future possibilities

Passions quickly cooled after Robertson wrangled in discussions and both sides said there were obvious needs to be addressed with PARA. The disagreements, as were the same with Maddox's presentation to the Northport City Council, are mainly related to the follow-through.

At one point during his presentation, though, Maddox said the PARA Board had indicated to him that it is working on its own funding model and presentation to be considered, which could provide a remedy to the highly-contentious situation. The mayor said this would allow PARA to take the lead on implementing the changes it would like to see.

"If the County Commission doesn't want to go this route, I have no intention of battling the County Commission on this because we've got so much we've got to do together," Maddox said. "It's one issue and I don't want stop other issues. So today, y'all have made it abundantly clear that you're satisfied."

Maddox then said he hoped Wednesday's presentation would have generated some kind of counter proposal from county officials or spur dialogue to help move PARA forward.

As the presentation came to a close, Robertson said when PARA was first formed in 1969, it was created under a "wise structure" that has since proven a valuable asset to the community.

"Time moves on. Things change. So I think we do need to look at it," Robertson said of PARA's current funding model and governing structure. "I do not want it to be construed that we don't want to have input or status quo ... nothing stays status quo. I think having the dialogue is good, whether some of this is attractive to the commission or not, parks and rec is key to the future of this county and to PARA itself."

Maddox told Patch after the meeting that he remains open to a counter offer from Tuscaloosa County and has expressed the same sentiment regarding the City of Northport.

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