Franklin Parks Department Completes State Benchmarking Program
City of Franklin Administrator, Eric Stuckey announces today the Parks Department has successfully completed the State of Tennessee Parks and Recreation Benchmarking Program. In May 2008, the Franklin Parks Department embarked on a journey of establishing/organizing policies and procedures established by the Department of Environment and Conservation under the division of the Recreational Educational Services (RES).
RES recognizes the importance benchmarking can have on the quality of local leisure services provided in the State of Tennessee and has incorporated it in the Local Parks and Recreation Fund, and the Land and Water Conservation Fund grant cycles. RES developed a benchmarking guide and application that leads any size department and/or community through the process used in management and particularly strategic management, in which organizations evaluate various aspects of their processes in relation to best practice with the goal of increasing efficiency and quality of products and services, while reducing costs.
“I am proud of our staff in the Parks Department,” said Stuckey. “This truly shows the dedication and professionalism of our team and how we as a city are committed to excellence.”
“By comparing ourselves against the best of the best in parks and recreation will we truly deliver the best programs and services to our great city,” said Parks Director, Lisa Clayton. “The employees within this department all should be very proud of their accomplishment and without them; this would not have been possible.”
The Parks Department completed Tier I and Tier II from a 3-Star Program. Within Tier I, there are 13 standards (criteria) and 16 within Tier II. It is the goal of the department to begin Tier III in 2009 and complete by 2010. Once Tier III is officially completed, the logical next step would be to apply for the National Parks and Recreation Accreditation Program.
The City of Germantown Parks and Recreation Department is currently the only one in Tennessee that is nationally accredited. The Franklin Parks Department believes this is a very obtainable goal. A copy of the full report is located at the Parks Department Administrative Office.
