Greetings to all, I hope everyone is busy readying their parks and facilities for the rigors of the summer season.

I know we have been busy here at Metro Parks Tacoma. It seems like we always save those extra projects for the off-season, when we have a little more time. You all know, the late fall and early winter are those times when we can get other tasks completed, however that time of the year is getting just as busy as spring and summer. We have been working on miscellaneous capital projects like restroom renovations, play ground enhancements with new swings and fall material, site furniture replacements and many other projects. Mix this work with daily routine maintenance and operation and the staff is incredibly busy. Winter turned into spring rather quickly this year and we are challenged with the demands of park patrons. Everyone is very familiar with this, because this is what we all do! A couple weeks ago the board of directories for INPRA met for our scheduled June meeting. We discussed a number of issues. The majority of our time was sharing the fall conferences, Seattle 2004, Victoria 2005 and Corvallis 2006. Peggy Pullen and the team from Seattle are pulling together what sounds like a great training opportunity. I encourage you all to come and share in this once a year conference. The breakouts will be educational and I’m positive they will inspire us to be better professionals.
We discussed options for themes and areas of focus for Victoria and Corvallis. These institutes are coming together likewise. We discussed the need for new membership. Ken Heany has been working on a new web site for INPRA and will continue to fine-tune this vehicle of information regarding the association. And last we started dialogue on the need for the board members to review our goals and purpose. That’s right we started a strategic process, reviewing the mission and purpose of the association.

INPRA goals and purpose are: To promote educational and training opportunities for Park professionals and encourage study and research.
To sponsor an annual training institute devoted to the exchange and presentation of ideas and philosophies related to the field of Parks and Recreation.
To continually strive to insure that high quality Parks and recreation facilities are provided in our communities.
To create a strong sense of fellowship, cooperation and spirit among the I.N.P.R.A. membership.

The board has made a commitment to continue to review and reinforce our goals. I ask all of you to also please assist by providing feedback.

As a member of the association, what are the benefits that you want? What is your vision for the association-purpose? Do we offer enough educational opportunities for the members? How can we further our membership into other neighboring cities and communities and other areas that will advance the association to reach more park and recreation professionals? By doing this we’ll strengthen our membership and focus on the core services the association provides all of you. I’m hopeful that you are proud of the association and what we provide.

Every opportunity I get I share the benefits of the association with others. Looking back over the last decade and reflecting on the training sessions at the fall training institute and the topics at the Administrators Academy I know this information is continuously used. The fact that we have a network of professionals that have experienced similar challenges makes me a confident professional.
Each agency has a defined resource of staff; however we have the depth of the association to draw from when we are faced with challenges that are beyond our experience. Again, I encourage all of you to take a break from the daily work schedule and attend the Seattle conference. It will be great like all of you!

Vito

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