Allocation of Recreation and Aquatic Staff Resources

· The Recreation and Park Department lacks productivity standards to determine the total number and best allocation of recreation staff to meet the Department's program needs. Consequently, the Department has overstaffed the larger recreation centers during the middle of the day, when the Department has the fewest recreation programs. For example, at Oceanview Recreation Center, on a Tuesday afternoon between 12 and 1 p.m., four recreation staff were on duty, but no programs were offered and no members of the public present. Two of the staff members spent a portion of the hour in the gym playing basketball. Other recreation centers, such as the Upper Noe Valley and Glen Park Recreation Centers, appeared overstaffed during site visits. In one instance, none of the recreation staff scheduled to work could be found during the first half hour when the facility was supposed to be open.

· The Department does not maintain consistent staffing levels or hours at all recreation facilities. In the sixteen largest recreation facilities, the number of hours the facilities are open per full time equivalent position varies from a low of 9.6 hours per full time equivalent position to a high of 19.8 hours per full time equivalent position. Further, the staffing levels at these facilities do not correlate with the number of weekly program users reported, which range from 184 program users per full time equivalent position to 2,445 program users per full time equivalent position.

· Swimming pool fee revenues make up less than 10 percent of the annual swimming pool budget, or $318,500 in fee revenues compared to an operating budget of $3.38 million in FY 2004-2005. The Recreation and Park Department needs to increase swimming pool fee revenues by increasing both attendance and adult swim fees. Swimming pool attendance varies by season and by facility. Monthly swimming pool attendance in FY 2004-2005 ranged from approximately 31,000 in July 2004 to 13,000 in December 2004. Also, the three pools, which had been closed for renovation or maintenance - Martin Luther King Jr. Pool, North Beach Community Pool, and Coffman Community Pool - reported attendance in July and August of 2005 far below pool capacity.

· The Recreation and Park Department will not be able to charge higher fees and attract new users without significant improvements in locker room, toilet, and pool cleanliness. For example, the Department of Public Health's July 13, 2005 inspection of Rossi Pool found the women's showers to be "unsanitary" and the July 27, 2005 inspection of Sava Pool found the men's showers to be mildewed and unclean.

The Recreation and Park Department lacks productivity standards or other criteria to determine optimal allocation of recreation resources. Consequently, the Department does not consistently assign staffing resources according to the best possible use. The Department has made changes to recreation and aquatic positions over the past several years, including increasing the number of full time recreation positions and swimming instructor/lifeguard positions while reducing other positions, but needs to better manage allocation of these positions.

The Department's Allocation of Staff Resources to Neighborhood and Citywide Recreation Programs

The Recreation and Park Department has lost 32 full time equivalent recreation staff positions over the past five years, primarily through attrition. The Department, however, does not yet have the management tools or oversight to evaluate the impact of these reduced positions on the Department's services and does not have a plan for allocating recreation resources. In FY 2000-2001, the Recreation and Park Department had 234 full time equivalent recreation staff positions filled (including both Classification 3280 Assistant Recreation Directors and Classification 3284 Recreation Directors). In FY 2005-2006, the Department currently has 202 full time equivalent recreation staff positions filled, for a total of 32 full time equivalent fewer today than in FY 2000-2001. Therefore, overall, the Department had 13.6 percent fewer recreation staff, as shown in the following Table 1.1.

Table 1.1
Actual Recreation Staff Positions,
FY 2001-2002 through FY 2005-2006

Source: Recreation and Park Department

Insufficient Process for Allocating Recreation Staff

Although the Recreation and Park Department has lost 32 full time equivalent recreation staff positions over the past five years, the Department does not have recreation staff performance standards, such as the number of programs staff should offer, or a method to determine the need for or allocation of recreation staff resources. Proposition C requires maintenance standards for parks and schedule compliance for gardening and custodial staff, but the department has no standards for recreation facilities. Particularly relevant for this discussion is the Department's lack of any standardization or analysis of recreation staff scheduling and allocation.

In FY 2005-2006 the Recreation and Park Department created a new management structure, including hiring a Director of Operations for the first time, upgrading the Citywide Services Manager and Neighborhood Services Manager positions, and increasing the number of Neighborhood Services Directors from four to eight. However, these changes are recent and of the writing of this report, only the Director of Operations, Neighborhood Services Manager, Citywide Services Manager, and three of the eight Neighborhood Services Director positions were filled. The lack of a management structure has contributed to inadequate planning and oversight of recreation resources.

Inefficient Recreation Staff Allocation

The Department has not allocated and scheduled its current staff in the most efficient manner to ensure best results. There is considerable variation in the level of staff assigned to facilities per hour of facility operation and per hour of programming.

In particular, among the sixteen largest recreation facilities, or the "Magnitude 5" recreation facilities¹, the number of hours the facilities are open per full time equivalent position varies from a low of 9.6 hours per full time equivalent position to a high of 19.8 hours per full time equivalent position. Further, the staffing levels at these facilities do not correlate with the number of weekly program users reported, which range from 184 program users per full time equivalent position to 2,445 program users per full time equivalent position. Table 1.2 below summarizes these data, as well as several other measures depicting how the Department allocates facility staff and recreation services among its sixteen largest recreation facilities.

Table 1.2
Facility Staffing and Service Provision Measures for Magnitude 5 Recreation Facilities

Source: Recreation and Park Department, various sources

No Recreation Staff Productivity Standards

The Department does not have productivity standards for its recreation staff, such as the number of program hours they should be in charge or the number of facility users they should oversee. Productivity, if measured by the number of program hours staff oversees, varies significantly. As shown in Table 1.2 above, among all Magnitude 5 recreation facilities, the number of program hours offered per hour of operation ranged from 0.08 to 0.47. In other words, if all recreation facilities were open 40 hours per week, the number of program hours offered during that week would range from 3 to 19 hours. Further productivity variation, as measured by the number of program users per full time equivalent staff member, is also illustrated in Table 1.2.

Although the Department does not have data on the relative productivity of different individual staff assignments, interviews with department staff suggest that some recreation staff are proactive in the formation, promotion, and management of recreation programs, whereas others are only doing the minimal amount of work. The Department is currently developing productivity guidelines for its gardening staff, as is discussed in Section 2 of this report. By the same rationale, the Department should develop minimal productivity guidelines for its recreation staff as well.

Inappropriate Recreation Staff Schedules

Because the Recreation and Park Department's recreation programs are spread throughout the day, with most programs scheduled in the morning or late afternoon and evening, the Recreation and Park Department created many of its positions as part time positions. In 1999, the Recreation and Park Department increased the hours of 30 part-time recreation staff to full-time, which equaled 2.0 full time equivalent positions. This has resulted in four to five staff being assigned to the large recreation centers during the midday, a time when the Department has the fewest programs. According to Department managers, the staff are expected to use this midday period to plan programs, conduct outreach, perform set-up and clean-up work, run errands, and complete administrative tasks.

The Recreation and Park Department does not ensure that recreation staff use the midday downtime productively, however. During field visits to recreation centers during these off-peak hours, some staff were observed in non-work activities. At Oceanview Recreation Center, for example, on a Tuesday afternoon between 12 and 1 p.m., there were four recreation staff on duty, no programs running, and no members of the public present. Two of the staff members spent a portion of the hour in the gym playing basketball. Site visits to other recreation centers, including Upper Noe Recreation Center (on a Wednesday at 12:30 p.m.) and Glen Park Recreation Center (on a Thursday at 2:30 p.m.) also appeared overstaffed for the amount of activity taking place. In one instance, none of the recreation staff scheduled to work could be found during the first half hour when the facility was supposed to be open.

According to recreation center staffing schedules from the Spring of 2005, the most recent period from which comprehensive staffing schedules are available, there were eight recreation facilities that had scheduled three or more recreation staff between the hours of 12 and 2 p.m. for more than three weekdays a week.

Although anecdotal, these observations of overstaffing in certain facilities, in conjunction with Table 1.2's data that show marked disparities in staffing, program, and user levels, point to the need for the Department to develop and implement a method for the fair and efficient allocation of recreation staff resources based on productivity standards and facility usage.

The Recreation and Park Department should assess the need for part time and full time staff. The Budget Analyst estimates that the mid-day overlap in staffing, which often results in nonproductive time, equals approximately 2 full time equivalent positions. If the Recreation and Park Department were to reduce unneeded full time positions to part time, the salary savings could be reallocated to pay for other Department staff needs, such as custodian staff needs as discussed in Section 2 of this report.

Swimming Pool Staffing, Attendance, and Closures

The Recreation and Park Department changed its aquatic staffing model in FY 2003-2003 and FY 2003-2004, eliminating locker room attendants and cashiers and increasing the number of swimming instructors/lifeguards. The Recreation and Park Department eliminated the locker room attendants and cashiers to save money, and in doing so, changed the procedures for collecting swimming pool fees. Rather than cashiers collecting fees at the entrance, the Department set up a system of locked boxes at each pool, with swimmers depositing their fee in the locked box on entering the pool.

Between FY 2002-2003 and FY 2004-2005 the Recreation and Park Department has reduced the number of budgeted swimming pool positions from 69 to 48.22 full time equivalent positions, a 30.1 percent reduction, as shown in Table 1.3.

Table 1.3
Reduction in Budgeted Swimming Pool Full Time Equivalent Positions
FY 2002-2003 through FY 2004-2005

Source: Annual Salary Ordinance

The Recreation and Park Department's annual swimming pool budget also decreased between FY 2002-2003 through FY 2004-2005, from $4.08 million in FY 2002-2003 to $3.38 million in FY 2004-2005, a reduction of approximately $700,000 or 17.2 percent. This reduction in staff and budget was due in part to the closing of the North Beach Community Pool from July 2003 through May 2005 for renovation, and closing other pools temporarily for repairs or annual maintenance.

Impact of Staffing Changes on Swimming Fee Collections

In FY 2003-2004, the first year that the Recreation and Park Department reduced swimming pool cashier positions, swimming fee collections decreased by $30,000, or 9.8 percent, from $306,000 in FY 2002-2003 to $276,000 in FY 2003-2004. The Recreation and Park Department did not shift fee collection responsibilities to the swimming instructors/lifeguards but rather set up a system of locked boxes that are transported directly to the Revenue Unit at McLaren Lodge by armored transport.

According to the May 2004 Controller's report on swimming pool staffing, the Recreation and Park Department's attendance tallies were inaccurate, preventing reconciliation of cash receipts to pool attendance. In FY 2002-2003, when swimming pool cashiers collected and recorded fees, swimming pool attendance in FY 2002-2003 was 236,872. The Department did not keep accurate attendance records in FY 2003-2004 after swimming pool cashier positions were reduced. In FY 2004-2005, the Recreation and Park Department began keeping more accurate swimming pool attendance records and reported FY 2004-2005 attendance of 253,648 and revenues of $318,500, which is slightly less than the expected revenues of $319,987.

Table 1.4
FY 2004-2005 Swimming Pool Attendance and Expected and Actual Fee Revenues

Source: Recreation and Park Department

Although the Recreation and Park Department considers the current fee collection method, in which swimming pool patrons deposit cash into a locked box on entering the facility, to be an interim method, the Department has not yet implemented other systems to facilitate payment of swimming pool fees. Currently, swimming pool patrons can purchase discounted scrip booklets online or by mail, but must wait up to five days or longer to receive the booklets in the mail. Otherwise, the scrip booklets can only be purchased at McLaren Lodge or City Hall. The Board of Supervisors approved implementation of monthly swim passes in FY 2005-2006 but the Recreation and Park Department has not yet implemented the monthly swim passes.

The Recreation and Park Department needs to move forward in implementing a more accessible scrip booklet and monthly pass system. The Department has included funds in the FY 2005-2006 budget to install a reservation and permits system, which gives Recreation and Park Department patrons online access to reservations and permits. The Department needs to assess the potential for allowing patrons to print scrip tickets through this system rather than waiting for mailed scrip booklets. The Department also needs to move forward with a plan allowing swimming pool patrons to purchase monthly passes online and purchase scrip booklets and monthly passes at convenient locations throughout the City. The Department should also assess opportunities to increase the locations where swimming pool patrons can purchase scrip booklets and monthly passes, including agreements with other City departments that routinely handle cash, such as the libraries, or vendors that sell MUNI fast passes.

The General Manager should report to the Recreation and Park Commission during the FY 2006-2007 budget preparation and review on the status of implementing these new systems. The General Manager should also report on the Department's plans to install an electronic gated entry system at the swimming pools that would automatically admit patrons through an electronic gate.

Swimming Pool Closures

The Recreation and Park Department closes the eight year-round swimming pools for pre-scheduled maintenance throughout the year and posts the maintenance schedule on the Department's web site. Additionally, swimming pools are closed unexpectedly due to inadequate staffing, or maintenance and sanitation problems. In calendar year 2004, the Recreation and Park Department closed the swimming pools unexpectedly on 20 different occasions due to a variety of causes. In calendar year 2005, the Recreation and Park Department closed the swimming pools unexpectedly on 35 different occasions, a 75 percent increase in pool closures.

Table 1.5
Unscheduled Pool Closures in Calendar Years 2004 and 2005

Source: Recreation and Park Department

Pool Closures due to Staffing Shortages

The Recreation and Park Department needs to maintain at least two certified staff, which includes swimming instructors/lifeguards and senior swimming instructors, at each pool. If the Department has insufficient certified staff, then the Department closes the pool. The Recreation and Park Department increased swimming instructor/lifeguard staffing at the swimming pools to replace the eliminated swimming pool cashier and locker room attendant positions. Under the current staffing model, each swimming pool is intended to have three certified staff and two trainees scheduled at all times, except for Martin Luther King Jr. Pool and the North Beach Community Pool, which are intended to have four certified staff at all times.

According to the May 2004 Controller's report, unanticipated pool closures were reduced for a three-month period in FY 2003-2004 compared to the same three-month period in FY 2002-2003, prior to the reduction in swimming pool cashier and locker room attendant positions and increase in swimming pool instructor/lifeguard positions. The Controller's Office found that nine pools were closed due to staff shortages during the three-month period in FY 2002-2003 compared to one pool closed due to staff shortages during the same three-month period in FY 2003-2004.

As noted in Table 1.5, the Recreation and Park Department closed pools due to staffing shortages on 15 different occasions between January and December 2005. Coffman Community Pool was closed on eight occasions, North Beach Community Pool was closed on three occasions, and Garfield Pool, Hamilton Pool, Rossi Pool, and Martin Luther King Jr. Pool were each closed on one occasion due to staffing shortages. Nine of the pool closures occurred in October 2005. According to the Aquatics Program, these pool closures were aggravated by a delay in closing the outdoor Mission Pool, which was due to close at the end of the summer season, and the Coffman Pool, which was due to close for scheduled renovation, resulting in staffing of nine rather than seven pools, as anticipated in the annual budget. The Recreation and Park Department needs to evaluate its staffing and pool closure schedules throughout the year to ensure adequate staffing during the year and reduce the number of occasions that swimming pools are closed unexpectedly due to staffing shortages. If swimming pool maintenance and renovation schedules change during the year, the Department should revise the pool hours during the course of the year based on changes to maintenance and renovation schedules, pool use, and staff availability, and post the revised pool hours on the web site.

Pool Closure for Water Quality Problems

The Recreation and Park Department closed pools 10 times in 2004 and nine times in 2005 due to problems with water clarity or contamination. The Department of Public Health routinely inspects swimming pools for water quality. The Department of Public Health only reported one problem with swimming pool water quality - an inadequate chlorine level - during 17 site visits in FY 2004-2005.

Under Recreation and Park Department policy, Structural Maintenance staff check the swimming pools daily for water quality and chemical balance. The Department also has procedures to close the pool in the event of bodily fluid contamination.

The Department should consider several procedures to reduce the impact of bodily fluid contamination in the public pools, including:

· Setting up vending machines with swimming diapers. Currently, the City of Oakland issues free swimming diapers to parents with young children.

· Establishing a mobile custodian crew dedicated to the swimming pools. The Budget Analyst has recommended increasing the swimming pool fee (see below) to fund 1.5 custodian positions for the swimming pools.

· Equipment purchases, such as pool vacuums and pool washers. The Department should review the use, cost, and possible funding sources for such equipment.

Swimming Pool Locker Room Cleanliness

The California Code of Regulations for swimming pools requires swimming pool showers and toilets to be clean and in good repair. The Department of Public Health conducts routine inspections of the swimming pools, including the cleanliness of the locker rooms. According to the Controller's May 2004 report, the Department of Public Health cited the Recreation and Park Department for locker and shower room sanitation violations six times between July 2003 and May 2004. Table 1.6 shows the July 2004 through August 2005 Department of Public Health inspections and results.

Table 1.6
Department of Public Health Swimming Pool Locker and Shower Room Inspection Results
July 2004 through August 2005

Source: Recreation and Park Department

The Recreation and Park Department's Neighborhood Services and mobile crew custodians maintain the cleanliness of the locker rooms and toilets. The custodian mobile crews clean the locker rooms and toilets of five pools, including Mission, Garfield, Hamilton, Sava, and Rossi Pools, and individual custodians assigned to Neighborhood Services parks and recreation centers clean the other four pools, including Balboa, Coffman, Martin Luther King Jr., and North Beach Pools. According to the May 2004 Controller's Office report, maintenance of the locker rooms varies from facility to facility and has been inconsistent over the past several years. Under current practice, custodial staff clean the North Beach Community, Balboa, Rossi, and Sava Pools twice per week or more, and clean Garfield, Hamilton and Mission Pools once per week.

Swimming Pool Fees and Attendance

Swimming pool fee revenues make up less than 10 percent of the annual swimming pool operating budget. In FY 2004-2005, the operating budget was $3.38 million and fee revenues were $318,500. Fee revenues are dependent on both the amount of the fee and swimming pool attendance.

Swimming pool fees were increased in FY 2005-2006 after a ten year period in which no fees were increased. In FY 2005-2006, adult recreation and lap swim fees increased by $1.00, from $3.00 to $4.00.

Swimming pool attendance varies by season and by facility. Swimming pool attendance is high during the summer months, but much lower during the winter. Monthly swimming pool attendance in FY 2004-2005 ranged from approximately 31,000 in July 2004 to 13,000 in December 2004. Also, three pools which had been closed for renovation or maintenance - Martin Luther King Jr. Pool, North Beach Community Pool, and Coffman Community Pool - reported low attendance in July and August of 2005 compared to pool capacity.²

The Recreation and Park Department needs to evaluate swimming pool fees and attendance and identify opportunities for increased paid attendance. The Recreation and Park Department should look at opportunities for ongoing fee increases and evaluate the revenue impact of fee increases associated with discounted scrip tickets and monthly passes and include this evaluation in the General Manager's report to the Recreation and Park Commission during the FY 2006-2007 budget preparation and review.

However, any fee increases need to be linked to improved maintenance and cleanliness of the pool facilities. The Recreation and Park Department will not be able to charge higher fees and attract new users without significant improvements in locker room, toilet, and pool cleanliness. An increase in adult recreation and lap swimming fees of $1.00, from $4.00 to $5.00 could fund 1.5 full time equivalent custodian positions dedicated to the swimming pools. The Recreation and Park Department should also evaluate the need for an evening shift custodian to clean the pools after hours, allowing more thorough cleaning when pool patrons are not present.

Conclusions

The Recreation and Park Department has no formal method for allocating staff resources, resulting in unequal distribution of staff time among programs and facilities. Generally, staff have been assigned to program or facilities based upon prior practice or history. As employees have left the Department and not been replaced, gaps in programs and services have resulted. The misallocation of staff resources has been exacerbated by the lack of productivity standards. Because the Department has not defined appropriate staffing or productivity levels the Department has no information on its actual staffing needs.

The Recreation and Park Department needs to evaluate swimming pool fees and attendance and identify opportunities for increased paid attendance. The Recreation and Park Department should look at opportunities for ongoing fee increases and evaluate the revenue impact of fee increases associated with discounted scrip tickets and monthly passes and include this evaluation in the General Manager's report to the Recreation and Park Commission during the FY 2006-2007 budget preparation and review. However, any fee increases need to be linked to improved maintenance and cleanliness of the pool facilities. The Recreation and Park Department will not be able to charge higher fees and attract new users without significant improvements in locker room, toilet, and pool cleanliness.

Recommendations

The Director of Operations should:

1.1 Develop minimum productivity standards for recreation staff in conjunction with the Neighborhood and Citywide Services Managers.

1.2 Develop a method for accurately determining facility use statistics in conjunction with the Neighborhood and Citywide Services Managers.

1.3 Develop a recreation staff allocation plan based on productivity and facility use standards in conjunction with the Neighborhood and Citywide Services Managers.

1.4 Assess the need for part time and full time recreation staff and propose reductions in full-time staffing to part time as appropriate, resulting in salary savings equivalent to two full time recreation director positions.

1.5 Reallocate salary savings from the reduction in full time recreation staff to part time recreation staff to fund custodian staff evening shift and lead custodian positions, as discussed in Recommendation 2.1.

1.6 Implement a system to print scrip tickets online, in conjunction with the Director of Administration and Finance.

1.7 Implement the monthly passes, as approved by the Board of Supervisors in FY 2005-2006, including developing a system to purchase monthly passes online, in conjunction with the Director of Administration and Finance.

1.8 Assess opportunities to increase the locations where swimming pool patrons can purchase scrip booklets and monthly passes, including agreements with other City departments that routinely handle cash, such as the libraries, or vendors that sell MUNI fast passes, in conjunction with the Director of Administration and Finance.

1.9 Evaluate swimming pool staffing and planned closures throughout the year to ensure adequate staffing during the year and reduce the number of occasions that swimming pools are closed unexpectedly due to staffing shortages, including (a) revising the pool hours during the course of the year based on changes to maintenance and renovation schedules, pool use, and staff availability, and (b) posting the revised pool hours on the web site.

1.10 Evaluate swimming pool fees and attendance and identify opportunities for increased paid attendance, especially at pools with below capacity use and during the winter months.

1.11 Assess the potential of increased revenues through fee increases to fund additional custodian staffing.

1.12 Install vending machines to distribute swimming diapers.

1.13 Review the use, cost and funding sources for equipment purchases, such as pool vacuums and pool washers.

The Recreation and Park Department General Manager should:

1.14 Report to the Recreation and Park Commission during FY 2006-2007 on the status of implementing swimming pool payment systems, including (a) purchasing and printing scrip tickets online, (b) purchasing monthly passes, and (c) installing an electronic gated entry system at the swimming pools that would automatically admit patrons through an electronic gate.

1.15 Report on the revenue impact of potential fee increases, including fee increases associated with discounted scrip tickets and monthly passes, and include this evaluation in the General Manager's report to the Recreation and Park Commission during the FY 2006-2007 budget preparation and review.

Costs and Benefits

Developing performance and productivity standards would allow the Department to better determine the need for and allocation of recreation staff. Reducing the number of unneeded full time recreation director to part time recreation director positions, equal to approximately 2.0 full time equivalent positions, would result in an estimated $118,000 annual salary and benefit savings. The Budget Analyst has recommended that these savings be allocated to reassigning custodians to the evening shift and creating lead custodian positions.

If the Recreation and Park Department increased attendance during the winter months and at pools that are currently below capacity by 10 percent, the Department's revenue would increase by approximately $30,000. If the Recreation and Park Department were to increase the fee for adult lap and recreational swimming by $1.00, from $4.00 to $5.00, the Department could increase revenues by approximately $89,000 annually. To increase fees, the Department would have to assure pool customers that the locker rooms and toilets would be well maintained, and therefore, should allocate increased revenues to funding up to 1.5 custodian positions, with salary and mandatory fringe benefit costs of approximately $58,000 per position, or $87,000 per 1.5 positions.

¹ The Recreation and Park Department has categorized its recreation facilities into five categories, with Magnitude 5 being the largest and most used facilities.

² According to the Recreation Assessment, pool capacity is calculated by multiplying the pool's square footage by National Recreation and Parks Association national guidelines for pools.