Parks Staff - Shadowing

posted September 14, 2024 - 2:39pm

Hola!

Board of Parks President Moira Harrington organized having board members shadow Park's staff as they performed their shift's duties. I took advantage as my calendar allowed. Our first stop was Cherokee Marsh for a volunteer event. Last week, Moira and I had a ride-along with a Park Ranger, and yesterday, we visited Warner Park. Below, Moira shared the experience with the rest of the board.

"A shout-out to city staff who were so gracious in engaging in recent job shadowing experiences with some of us. I participated in a number of these and it simply layered on to what I already knew—that there are creative, dedicated and smart people working for our Parks Department who are striving every day to ensure a positive and equitable experience for the folks who visit our more than 280 parks.

We had one-on-one and useful conversations and demonstrations from John Weichert, volunteer coordinator; Park Ranger John Ringwood; Zach Watson at the Warner Park Community Recreation Center coordinator; Paul Quinlin with conservation resource supervisor; and Chad Hughes, operations manager.

I’m confident that such useful learning that better informs our work as commissioners would have happened with many other staffers as well. For now, however, that had been our universe of staff shadowing.

It’s hard to winnow down the many things I learned from this, but I’ll share a few specifics:

Volunteer Coordinator

In 2023, more than 3,360 volunteers contributed 14,447 hours worth of work in our parks and it was worth nearly $460K. Judging by the enthusiasm of one of the Friends of Cherokee Marsh’s representatives and the roughly 20 students from Madison Country Day School on a recent cloudy morning dealing with invasive plants—cost benefit aside--volunteering is an inspiring experience. You can’t put a dollar figure on that. Thanks to John Weichert for sharing that enthusiasm with me.", Moira Harrington

Moira and I participated along with Madison Country Day School students to remove invasive species. 45 students volunteered over 2 days to complete this task.

'Yannette and Moira,

I enjoyed meeting and talking with you today at Cherokee Marsh. Thanks for coming out to see a volunteer day in action.

Here is a link to the bird and nature adventures I talked about with Moira. These are informal, guided walks (occasionally a paddle or boat trip) that take place Saturdays and Sundays in Madison parks, free and open to all. I highly recommend checking them out!" , Jan Axelson, Friends of Cherokee Marsh

Park Ranger

"While patrolling with a parks ranger, I had my first-ever look at the bike polo amenity (at Reynolds Park). No ponies required. I was also impressed by Ranger Ringwood’s skills at diffusing potentially difficult situations we encountered that evening." , Moira Harrington

With Ranger Ringwood, we observed his interactions enforcing City Ordinances, such as a dog off the leash and a park reservation for a student gathering where alcohol was present in glass bottles. These and other interactions were not just about enforcement, but also about providing valuable information and educating individuals on GMOs and how to comply. We gained a deeper understanding of the reservation system and its practical use in the field. Before sunset, we visited multiple parks to ensure public safety by closing the bathrooms for the night.

The map below shows the order of the parks visited. These are just a portion of one ranger's daily shift. I took pictures at some sites, and I have included them in the map link.

Additional Opportunities:

My schedule didn't allow time to meet with Hughes and Quinlan, but Moira shared her experience, "From good old-fashioned rakes and shovels, to state-of-the-art mowers and earth-moving equipment, Chad Hughes and the dozens and dozens of workers in Operations get so many projects done for our parks.

Digging, cutting and burning are pretty rugged undertakings but on the other side of those efforts to remove invasive plant species are numerous flourishing native ecosystems under the stewardship of Paul Quinlan and his team. There is a new managed meadow outside of the Lakeside building that with patience and time will be another conservation showpiece right at Parks HQ."

Thank Moira for coordinating, the Parks Staff for the opportunity to learn more about their services to the City of Madison, and the Board of Parks for embracing me and all my questions over the last few years. Serving as a Park Commissioner during my Council terms has been an absolute pleasure. It has expanded my knowledge of City Ordinances and State Statutes, which helps facilitate the understanding of processes and budget decisions.

Gracias!

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Alder Yannette Figueroa Cole

District 10, Council President
Contact Alder Figueroa Cole