The Chattanooga City Council has unanimously appointed the city’s first Park Advisory Committee to help shape Chattanooga’s parks and outdoors system.
The 15-member committee’s membership was selected from over 180 applicants. Nine of the members were appointed by City Council members by district, and six members were appointed by Mayor Tim Kelly. The Mayor’s appointments include a youth member under the age of 21.
“As we seek to lean into our city’s position as a leader in parks and outdoors, we are thrilled that this group of fifteen dedicated public servants has chosen to volunteer their time to inform our path forward,” said Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly. “Our great competitive advantage that will push our city into its new era is our dedication to developing a city in a park, and we need everyone on board to make that dream a reality.”
“Fredrick Law Olmsted, the creator of many of our nation’s greatest public landscapes, framed our work this way, “A park is a place where people from all walks of life can come together and find common ground," said Scott Martin, Administrator of Chattanooga Parks & Outdoors. “Chattanooga’s Parks & Outdoors Advisory Committee will elevate how residents, from all walks of life, come together to defend, shape, and steward Chattanooga’s parks and outdoor spaces.”
The Parks & Outdoors Advisory Committee will provide enhanced resident engagement in the city’s park system, informing management activities such as park maintenance and planning, recreation programming, fee structures, and expanding access to parks, outdoor and recreation resources, and help the City expand collaborative relationships with partners, donors, volunteers, and residents.
Appointment of this Committee was one of the key recommendations of the 2023 Parks and Outdoors Plan (POP) that the City Council adopted unanimously in 2023. The Committee will also provide leadership to help Chattanooga become the first National Park City in North America. Martin noted, “For public parks systems, more resident engagement means better governance, which means better quality parks and programs.”
Helping the Committee get started will be former NYC Parks Commissioner Mitch Silver. Commissioner Silver will join the Committee this spring for an orientation session helping the Committee members learn from examples across the nation about the fundamental role that citizen-led park oversight boards have in shaping our nation’s best urban park systems.