• Bill Tyler, Chief of Recreation at BCRP
• Carolyn Wainwright, President of the Advisory Board for the Department of Recreation and Parks
• Tim Almaguer of Safe and Sound
• Hathaway Ferebee of Safe and Sound

Plenty more information about why we’re holding this briefing, along with details about the rest of the evening’s program, is available here. Registration can be found here. Here’s the time and location information:

Tuesday, May 1st
6pm-8pm
War Memorial Hall
101 N. Gay Street Baltimore, MD 21202

CPHA would like to thank the sponsors of this event for making it possible:

The Urbanite

Utrecht Art Supplies

Sparks @ Play

We look forward to seeing you this Tuesday!

The City budget for the 2012 fiscal year greatly reduced funding for the Department of Recreation and Parks.  Needing to alter their services in accordance with these budget cuts, the Department responded by establishing a Recreation Center Task Force, which has established a plan to close some recreation centers and consolidate others.  Despite the assertation that recreation centers would remain open for the rest of the fiscal year, Mayor Rawlings-Blake and City Budget Director Kleine have made it clear that the City’s continued operation of all 55 recreation centers is not “financially possible.” According to a Baltimore Brew article from August 2011, the Recreation Center Task Force has recommended:

• construction of three new recreation centers by 2015
• expansion of eleven other centers by 2015
• transfer of twenty-eight centers to non-profits, private groups, or other agencies
• sponsorship of rec centers adjacent to schools by the school system
• closure of thirteen centers deemed “obsolete”

Unfortunately this plan, although flawed, has not been fully implemented as suggested by the Task Force.  There is a significant amount of confusion about the future of each center, due to the impromptu changes adopted by the City officials.  In addition, opposition to this plan within City Hall further complicates the situation.

CPHA (Citizens Planning & Housing Association, Inc.) will hold a briefing on this issue.  The evening will begin with an opportunity to explore informational displays on each recreation center.

The Activate Your Inner Citizen: Briefing will inform Baltimoreans about:

• the Task Force recommendations, and the status of the implementation of those recommendations;
• the method the City is using to accept applications for privatization of the centers; and
• several alternative ideas for funding solutions that would enable the City to retain certain centers in their system.

Expert panelists will explain the recommendations, the current process for privatization, and elaborate on alternative budgetary solutions that could yield a different set of closures or other changes.

CPHA’s Activate Your Inner Citizen: Briefing about the Future of Our Rec Centers was held on Tuesday, May 1st at the War Memorial Building

• For presentation materials and other documents from the Briefing, Please Click Here

The Briefing was covered by three news agencies:

• Rec centers as the centerpiece of citywide obesity effort (by Mark Reutter in the Baltimore Brew)
• Baltimore City Recreation & Parks Plan for Local Centers (Fox 45)
• Four city rec centers to close (by Julie Scharper in the Baltimore Sun)
• CPHA briefing on the future of Baltimore rec centers (by Mark Reutter in the Baltimore Brew)

More news on this issue:

- What the Mayor would like to see for the rec centers in 2013. (Baltimore Brew)
- Council President Young’s objections (Baltimore Brew)
- Previous plans to keep centers open through FY2012 (Baltimore Sun)
- The disappointing first round of Requests for Proposals (RFPs) (Baltimore Sun)

Please consider attending our FREE Activate Your Inner Citizen: University, featuring a traditional lineup of community leadership training classes, this Saturday, April 14th at the University of Maryland BioPark. Details and registration here.

CPHA apologizes for any inconvenience and we hope to be able to bring you a program on this crucial issue in our city soon.

The City budget for the 2012 fiscal year greatly reduced funding for the Department of Recreation and Parks.  Needing to alter their services in accordance with these budget cuts, the Department responded by establishing a Recreation Center Task Force, which has established a plan to close some recreation centers and consolidate others.  Despite the assertation that recreation centers would remain open for the rest of the fiscal year, Mayor Rawlings-Blake and City Budget Director Kleine have made it clear that the City’s continued operation of all 55 recreation centers is not “financially possible.” According to a Baltimore Brew article from August 2011, the Recreation Center Task Force has recommended:

• construction of three new recreation centers by 2015
• expansion of eleven other centers by 2015
• transfer of twenty-eight centers to non-profits, private groups, or other agencies
• sponsorship of rec centers adjacent to schools by the school system
• closure of thirteen centers deemed “obsolete”

Unfortunately this plan, although flawed, has not been fully implemented as suggested by the Task Force.  There is a significant amount of confusion about the future of each center, due to the impromptu changes adopted by the City officials.  In addition, opposition to this plan within City Hall further complicates the situation.

CPHA (Citizens Planning & Housing Association, Inc.) will hold a briefing on this issue.  The evening will begin with an opportunity to explore informational displays on each recreation center.

The Activate Your Inner Citizen: Briefing will inform Baltimoreans about:

• the Task Force recommendations, and the status of the implementation of those recommendations;
• the method the City is using to accept applications for privatization of the centers; and
• several alternative ideas for funding solutions that would enable the City to retain certain centers in their system.

Expert panelists will explain the recommendations, the current process for privatization, and elaborate on alternative budgetary solutions that could yield a different set of closures or other changes.

The event, originally scheduled for April 17th, is now scheduled for May 1st.

Please REGISTER Here

More news on this issue:

- What the Mayor would like to see for the rec centers in 2013. (Baltimore Brew)
- Council President Young’s objections (Baltimore Brew)
- Previous plans to keep centers open through FY2012 (Baltimore Sun)
- The disappointing first round of Requests for Proposals (RFPs) (Baltimore Sun)

On Wednesday, February 15th, CPHA and the Community Law Center will be holding an AYIC: Briefing that will educate those who attend on two important pieces of neighborhood-related legislation on the agenda in Annapolis, the Maryland HOME Act and amendments to the code enforcement laws to help communities address deteriorating properties that are a nuisance on the neighborhood  There will also be opportunities to take action!

On Monday, March 12th we will be hosting AYIC:workshop – Grants 101 in the CPHA board room, 3355 Keswick Road, Suite 200 from 6pm-8pm. Abby Cocke from the Baltimore City Office of Sustainability will be presenting.

Also, save the date Saturday, April 14th! Our Spring AYIC: University will be held on that Saturday and will feature a traditional lineup of leadership classes.  The location is the University of Maryland BioPark, and the University will last from 9am to 12:30pm.

In addition to the three sponsoring organizations, groups that offer assistance to gardeners will also be available to discuss your garden and open space needs.  Organizations include: Power in Dirt and the Community Law Center.

Saturday, January 28th, 2012 – 9am to 12:30pm (@ Sojourner Douglass College, near the Johns Hopkins Hospital)  Fee: $1 to $3 donation requested.

Click HERE for Details.

We hosted our Small Grants Workshop at Open City Baltimore. Many organizations offer small grants to communities with great ideas, but too often communities don’t know how to locate or apply for the grants they need.

Our Facebook page has a few pictures from the event.