From left to right: Phil Ginsburg, General Manager, Department of Recreation and Parks; Susan Court, 2009 BOMA San Francisco GAPAC Chair. In the background, Dee Dee Workman, President of Workman and Associates; Carolyn Diamond, Executive Director of the Market Street Association.San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department General Manager Phil Ginsburg spoke to the members of BOMA San Francisco's Government and Public Affairs Committee (GAPAC) on September 2nd to talk about his new position, and his plans for the Department going forward. The following are the highlights from the meeting:
Phil Ginsburg - General Manager
- Before he was selected as General Manager for the Department of Recreation and Parks, Mr. Ginsburg had served as Deputy City Attorney; the head of the City's Department of Human Resources; and, most recently served as Chief of Staff to Mayor Gavin Newsom.
- His love for open space and sports is unparalleled, and he can be found playing a sport, running or overseeing the management in one of the 230 parks in the City and County of San Francisco almost everyday.
- Mr. Ginsburg truly considers this his best job ever, and is honored to have been chosen to lead the Recreation and Parks Department.
The Recreation and Parks Department
- While there has been progress, maintenance continues to be a challenge. Mr. Ginsburg elaborated that there are too few maintenance staff to cover the parks' needs. He said the City had 200 gardeners working in Golden Gate Park 30 years ago, but today that number has been reduced to just 42. He blamed this on years of budget cuts.
- In addition, Mr. Ginsburg mentioned that the irrigation systems for the parks are 'under-performing'. Of the 230 parks in the City, 70 of them have irrigation systems that must be turned on and off manually.
- Environmental sustainability is also a major focus for the Department as it endeavors to improve the parks, and make them less maintenance intensive.
- Mr. Ginsburg stated that he is also focused on making the Department as efficient as possible. In his two months as General Manager, Mr. Ginsburg has cut over $600,000 in overtime from the Department's budget, is now requiring that all maintenance and gardening staff wear uniforms (to be immediately identifiable as a Recreation and Parks staff member to the public), and is in the process of placing GPS systems in all Department vehicles to track their usage.
- Another problem that Ginsburg spoke about was the high level of workers compensation claims by Department employees. In fact, 1 out of every 5 staff members have filed a claim. He is aggressively working to reduce this.
- Lastly, Mr. Ginsberg mentioned the unique challenges of managing employees whose families have been part of the Department workforce for generations.
Financial Sustainability: Partnership is Necessary
- Mr. Ginsburg mentioned that with the City's continuing budget shortfalls, some funding for the Department would have to come from partnerships from the private sector. The Department does not have a dedicated source of funding from the City and currently operates with a budget of $122 million--$70 million of that from the General Fund.
- He voiced his opposition to Proposition E on the November 3, 2009 ballot that would prohibit advertising on city property. Mr. Ginsburg stated that he 'needs to have the [financial] tools to manage [the Department correctly], but some in the City want to take any private sector options away.' Ginsburg wants to 'focus on the quality of the services delivered, not the way we deliver them.'
- According to Mr. Ginsburg, a great example of a public/private partnership to raise revenue for Department was the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival that was held this past weekend. This event alone netted over $1 million in revenue.
- Other options include: Food vendors in the park and increased grants and philanthropic activity from individuals and the private sector (e.g., adopt a park).
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