The City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department faces $125 million in deferred maintenance each year, ranging from playground maintenance and aquatics needs to mowing and servicing trash and recycling receptacles. What would be your strategy for addressing this need?

Natasha Harper-Madison

City Council, District 1

Well maintained parks, pools, playgrounds and grounds- in all parts of
Austin- are resources that should be afforded to all. The $125 million deficit
is reflective of the level of priority we place on maintenance and
improvement. We must address a myriad of issues in order to implement
strategy including waste that exists from ineffective and duplicative
programs. The first step would be to present the importance of the
impeccable maintenance of public recreational spaces. I would like to
create and deploy private partnerships, including but not limited to the
University of Texas’ aquatics programs, grounds keeping partnerships,
resource recovery partnerships and most importantly deploy more Austin
Parks current and newly recruited staff to accommodate the need.