Views from the Park Bench

The next few issues of SCRPA magazine will feature Views from a Park Bench. This feature will highlight retired directors or recreation professionals that have been in the field for 10+ years and have them share advice, compare agencies then to now, or simply tell their story. We hope you enjoy reading and perhaps learn some things from these well-versed perspectives.

Brenda Oliver

Columbia Art Center

By Brenda Oliver After 10+ years, I am retiring from my position of the Program Coordinator for Columbia Art Center. For me, this is a time of reflection. When I started at this position, Columbia Art Center was just a small community pottery studio. My overall goal was to make it much more. First, I had to have a vision. My vision and goal was to make it not only to stand out in the community, but to excel at meeting the needs of the community. I looked at the facility and realized its potential down the road. I had to set 5 to 10 year goals and assess the community needs. We started by adding painting and mixed media programs, which brought in a whole new group of participants. Then, we added one of our biggest outreach programs called Creative Journey. This is a program specifically for veterans that gave us national recognition. We were also able to maintain our contact with Fort Jackson and work with active duty military families and their children with special needs. My next goal was to move the Columbia Art Center to a new location that would provide us the space for our programs to grow and blossom. After a few years of searching, we found an amazing new facility. The next stop was to find additional staff, specifically someone who could help with this vision and bring more artists and types of arts to the community. These steps were carefully followed over the course of 10+ years and the facility is better for it. It now functions as a well-developed site that can more than adequately meet the needs of the art community. I would counsel anybody who is currently in the position I was originally, to think of these steps and take positive steps towards change. Everything is now in place for the Columbia Art Center to continue the phenomenal growth. As I retire on July 30, I have a large feeling of accomplishment at what was completed over the years and feel confident that I am leaving the program in good hands.

I have a large feeling of accomplishment at what was completed over the years and feel confident that I am leaving the program in good hands.

Tom O’Rourke

Mt. Pleasant & CCPRC

Q: What was your job title(s)?

A: I had two high profile positions while in the Parks and Recreation profession. The first was the Director of the Mt. Pleasant Recreation Department for 9 years and then Executive Director of the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission for a little over 17 years.

Q: What was your favorite part about working in recreation?

A: My favorite part about working in the Parks and Recreation profession has always been in the relationships that I have developed. These relationships include staff, park and program users, elected and appointed officials and other departments within a City. Every day that you wake up, in our profession, you are provided with an opportunity to help someone. As someone who has been in this profession all my adult life, it is the people that you remember most.

Q:What is one challenge you faced in your position and how did you overcome it?

A: Facing difficult challenges while in a position of leadership is something that all senior managers face. Most challenges we can’t write about or explain because of confidentiality issues. My most difficult challenges always came from personnel decisions. In leadership you have to genuinely care about the people that you are responsible for. Sometime, as a result of people’s actions, you need to act. Leadership decisions are easy, acting is not so easy, especially when you care for people. In the end, we are stewards of the departments we are managing. My most difficult decisions were the ones I had to make that I knew was the right decision for the agency, but not so good for the person affected.

Q: What is one piece of advice you would give to people looking to enter the world of parks and recreation?

A: I would strongly advise people to get into the profession. The people do not need to change, the profession needs to change. If the future of our profession is to ask for more help every year or keep doing the same thing, then not only are future employees in trouble but so is the profession. We are going to need to effectively “sell” that we are the department that solve every single social issue that we are dealing with now. Look at the obvious issues today, BLM is us, teen suicide is us, health and wellness is us. We need to actually address these and every single other issue we are doing and ensure that the elected people and the people that we serve know what our profession really is. We need to be more in sales.

Q: How did you define success in your role or department?

A: I love the question of how do you define success. The answer is that it depends on what you are measuring. So many departments really have no business plan, or no plan at all. Many departments do not even know what KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators,) they should be measuring. Success is defined by the data you collect. If you can’t measure something you can’t evaluate it or define it.

Q: My favorite quote is...

A: “A great teacher is one who realizes that he himself is also a student and whose goal is not to dictate the answers, but to stimulate his students creativity enough so that they go out and find the answers themselves.” - Herbie Hancock

Q: Do you have a favorite experience with us from when you were working with CCPRC or another agency you worked for?

A: I had so many “favorite” experiences, but maybe my favorite was when I got to sign a “transition” contract that gradually moved me out of the Executive Director position and David Bennett into the position, knowing that the key to stabilization of any organization is a well thought out succession plan.

Q: What is the coolest thing you’ve done in retirement (from recreation)?

A: The coolest thing that I have done in “retirement” is be on the team at The Nexton Community near Summerville, to establish a privately managed park and recreation agency for the region. (I’m not in any way retired!)