STARKVILLE — Brandon Doherty started his job as Starkville Parks and Recreation executive director in August amid a slate of already underway capital improvement projects in his department, the largest being a $20 million tournament-ready baseball/softball complex at Cornerstone Park.
To run the expanding parks system at peak efficiency, he noticed more systemic issues with staffing and management he needed to address.
“We had so many instances where we had one person wearing seven hats,” Doherty said. “It’s not that we had bad employees or a lack of support. We had people doing the best they could with limited direction and structure.”
On Tuesday, at Doherty’s request, aldermen unanimously approved a staff restructuring plan that would add $500,000 to the department’s payroll over the next three years. It includes adding eight new full-time positions, a handful of seasonal or part-time positions and better aligning job titles/descriptions for existing employees with the department’s needs.
As a result, he said, residents should soon see increased recreation programming and “safer, cleaner” park facilities.
The plan retains all of the department’s existing employees (13 full- and 12 part-time), which he said have been placed in slots in the new structure that are most consistent with the duties they already have. It also allows for up to 30 seasonal workers.
“Now we’ll have, maybe, three people wearing seven hats among them,” Doherty said. “That also means we’ll have higher accountability and higher expectations for things to be better maintained than they were in the past.”
Key components of the new staff structure are a facilities manager to oversee rental and cleaning operations, as well as separating groundskeeping duties for athletic fields and city parks under separate supervisors with their own team of subordinates. With one grounds crew for all facilities, Doherty said, work was “so tactical every day, and things would be missed because they would be so inundated.”
“We want our parks to look presentable and professional, where people leave there wanting to come back,” he added.
Doherty wants to increase both youth and adult programming, including tournaments in multiple sports, fitness programs and youth sports like soccer, lacrosse, volleyball and archery.
“You’ll see some gain there over the next six months, but we’re using the ‘drip method’ to bring those gradually to max capacity in two years,” he said. “We haven’t done some of these things before, so there may be some areas where we have to take a timeout to step back and adjust as we go.”
Parks and Recreation immediately is seeking a Cornerstone Park supervisor, grounds manager and marketing manager, all of whom will support the complex under construction. Turf, concession stands and other structures will begin going up there in March, Doherty said, with the entire project set for completion in March 2022. Meanwhile, work continues at the Sportsplex to convert baseball and softball fields to “multi-purpose” recreation fields, he said.
The department’s general revenue allotment from the city and revenue from the 1-percent tourism sales tax used to fund Cornerstone construction and park operations, will cover the new payroll expenses, Doherty said. This year, the total budget for Parks and Recreation is $1.6 million.
Mayor Lynn Spruill said she appreciates the fresh eyes Doherty brought to how Parks and Recreation is managed, and she supports his plan.
“The proposal he’s made makes sense to me,” Spruill said. “Parks spark tourism, and especially when we come out of this pandemic, we want to be ready to roll.”
Staff buy-in for the new plan, Doherty said, has been crucial.
“They understand it, and they are behind it,” he said. “Without that, we wouldn’t have gotten as far as we have. … It’s going to take us some time, but we’re going to get there.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.