I believe that private partners such as the Austin Parks Foundation serve a
crucial role in supporting the City’s parks policies and efforts and in
organizing and activating our parks community.

During my time as a Council Member, I have worked with our partners in
the parks community to help make real progress on our city policies. Parks
advocates have been crucial to efforts that I have led to update our
Parkland Dedication Ordinance and to increase our parks funding in the
City budget, among others. Parks partners – from local neighborhood
associations all the way up to the Austin Parks Foundation – have also
been crucial to leveraging private resources and volunteers to ensure City
investments can go even further. Finally, parks organizations also help
enhance the City’s community engagement efforts by organizing and
educating residents and amplifying awareness of parks issues and
opportunities.

Going forward, I will continue to work closely with our parks organizations
and advocates to make progress on our parks policies, leverage our
resources, and engage with the community.