Voters OK merger of parks, recreation

Voters yesterday approved a change to the city charter that abolishes the Fairmount Park Commission and combines oversight of parks with recreation facilities in a new Department of Parks and Recreation.

The independent Fairmount Park Commission has been in place for 141 years. Mayor Nutter and other advocates of the merger say that it would streamline management and help the city to better provide services.

Critics have said that the merger would give the city the authority to sell off some of the 9,200-acre parkland.

The legislation creates the department and a new advisory Commission on Parks and Recreation that would be very different from the Fairmount Park Commission, which is selected in secret by the city Board of Judges.

The new commission would draw its members from applicants who are interviewed in a public City Council hearing. Council would select 25 names to send to the mayor, who would nominate nine members.

The 15-member commission would be rounded out by elected officials. It would advise on park policy but not control it. *

- Catherine Lucey