60 PARKS 



is no one thing to which the American public is more sensitive than the 

 question of taxes. 



The need for a thorough education of the citizens, who very often are 

 asked to vote on these questions, is absolutely vital. Many much needed 

 increases in the municipal budget are frequently lost because of the citi- 

 zens' lack of knowledge of the benefits to be derived from a tax rate made 

 higher for the sake of adding to the city's park and recreation assets. 



3. The need of additional properties. This is an almost inevitable 

 objective, for few communities or counties in America have all the park 

 area they need. Many communities are paying dearly for failure to appre- 

 ciate their needs in advance and provide for them before property values 

 have become so high that the community can scarcely afford to secure 

 land. Here again enters the need for securing money for the purchase of 

 property through bond issues or other methods with the attendant need for 

 guiding public opinion to a realization of the importance of such measures. 



4. Need for improvement of properties. 



5. Need of reorganization of the administration of the park system. Com- 

 munity needs and demands have multiplied so fast during the past quarter 

 of a century that established systems have been hard put to keep pace with 

 them. Everywhere there is constant need of readjustment and enlargement 

 of program and staff. The development of the administrative organization 

 necessary is largely an internal matter, and if the governing authorities can 

 meet these demands fairly adequately as they arise, the public need not 

 be brought in. This is not always the case, and often bitter controversies 

 have arisen over administrative problems. Here again there must be some 

 focal point of educational leadership of the public. 



How is Leadership in Educational Work to Come? In the case of the 

 original establishment of a park and recreation system, the leadership must 

 always come from an unofficial group of interested citizens. It may, in the 

 case of established systems, come from the officials themselves, but even 

 in such instances chief reliance must always be placed on the support of 

 organized groups and individuals of the community who have the interest 

 of parks and of their community at heart. 



The Follow-Up Group. In the case of pajrk planning and extension, 

 which is generally a part of a broad city plan, the unofficial group interested 

 in initiating the study will usually be the logical group to provide the edu- 

 cational leadership necessary in putting the plans made into effect. Where 

 an official city planning commission was the initiating body it is usually 

 better, it is felt, for the follow-up work to be placed in the hands of an 

 unofficial group such as a Citizen Planning Committee; or, as has been 

 suggested, there are other types of existing civic organizations which may 



