August 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 23

Facebook chatter was turning up.
As I was the new director of only a
month, many people had things to
say. An Alderman, whose son swims
on the team, introduced a resolution
that demanded we give the swim
team access to the pool. His intent
was that we give them what they requested,
but there was a fluke in the
way the resolution was written that
simply requested access. This passed
council in a majority vote with many
Aldermen noting the fluke and understanding
the department did desire to
support the swim team in some modified
way. It's also important to note
that technically a resolution cannot
force the department to act.
Support for Equity
Fortunately, department staff, the
community, the mayor and the city
manager fully supported public access
to the newly built amenity. I
presented and testified for more than
an hour about the pool and how important
public access was. Staff were
excited that they finally had support
on all levels and appreciated the willingness
to take on such a tough problem.
The department knew once the
decision was made, it would be a
platform for future years - one that
could potentially put staff in harm's
way during the season.
The Plan
The swim team was sharing the
opinion everywhere possible that the
department was trying to get rid of
the team that had been around for
years. Meanwhile, the department
was sharing the various options that
had been presented that allowed both
the swim team and the community to
have equitable access to the pool. The
department also was monitoring social
media chatter regarding this topic.
One community member stood
out. I called that community member
and shared the department's side
of the story prior to the community
member's meeting with the team to
discuss her position. During our conversation,
the community member
agreed that having three lanes for the
public and three lanes for the swim
team was fair. Further, the decision
that the pool would close to the public
30 minutes early and stay open an
hour longer for only the swim team
was more than fair. Unbeknownst to
anyone, the meeting the community
member had with the swim team
turned into a negotiation that ended
in the above compromise. This meant
we would be able to have open swim,
learn-to-swim classes and other programs
- a win all the way around.
Moral of the Story
The public and our communities
need us to be their voices, no matter
how tough it may be. Sometimes
standing on your values and what
you know to be right is tough, but
that is what we are hired to do. As
my mother always said, " If you stand
for nothing, you fall for everything. "
Courage is standing up for what you
know is right.
Roslyn Johnson, CPRP, is Director of Annapolis Recreation
and Parks (rjjohnson@annapolis.gov).
The public and our
communities need us
to be their voices, no
matter how tough it
may be.
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August 2023 - Parks & Recreation

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