TO: Honorable Mayor & Members of the North Port Commission
FROM: A. Jerome Fletcher II, ICMA-CM, MPA, City Manager
TITLE: Recognize the City of North Port Parks & Recreation Department for Being Selected as a 2024 Finalist for the National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management in Class III.
Recommended Action
Recognize the City of North Port Parks & Recreation Department for being selected as a 2024 finalist for the National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management in Class III.
Background Information
The National Gold Medal Award honors public park and recreation agencies and state park systems throughout the United States and armed forces recreation programs worldwide that demonstrate excellence in long-range planning, resource management and innovative approaches to delivering superb park and recreation services with fiscally sound business practices.
The National Gold Medal Award Program is managed and governed by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration (AAPRA) in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA). The National Gold Medal Award Program is sponsored by Musco Lighting, LLC.
Award applications are independently judged by a panel of five (5) park and recreation professionals selected by AAPRA based upon their management experience, size and type of agency, geographic location, and diversity. From the pool of applications, the judges select four (4) agencies in each population category, armed forces, and state parks (on odd years) as finalists. The City of North Port Parks & Recreation Department was selected as a finalist in the Class III category, population of 75,001 to 150,000.
Per the finalist requirements, the Parks & Recreation Department worked with the City’s Communications team to create a 5-minute video highlighting the impact of our agency's programs, services, and facilities. This video is one factor in the selection of the Grand Plaque recipients for each category. The presentation of finalists and announcement & award of grand plaques will take place the week of October 8-11, 2024, at the National Recreation & Parks Association Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Since the inception of the Gold Medal Award program in 1965, there have been twelve grand plaque park and recreation agency winners (population category) from the State of Florida.
Staff will be presenting the Department’s video submission as part of this recognition.
Strategic Plan
Quality of Life
Financial Impact
Not applicable.
Procurement
Not applicable.
Attachments:
1. Gold Medal Finalist Notification
Prepared by: Sandy Pfundheller, Parks & Recreation Director
Department Director: Sandy Pfundheller, Parks & Recreation Director