Parks and Recreation Board recommends audit of contracts governing city sports fields

The Austin Parks and Recreation Board unanimously voted to recommend that City Council conduct a comprehensive audit of all contracts related to dozens of city-owned baseball and soccer fields. 

The Austin Parks and Recreation Department frequently contracts with outside organizations to manage, maintain and use some of the city-owned baseball and soccer fields. The recommended audit will review the current contracts, identify the organizations involved and outline the terms regarding community access, including public notice and availability of the fields. It will also assess compliance with contract terms, focusing on penalties for breaches and procedures for contract termination related to community access issues.

“The city is able to save money by contracting with different organizations,” Board Member Lane Becker said. “The challenge is that some of these contracts have very long timelines and some of them, it seems, were not necessarily written as specifically as they needed to be. Additionally, some of them were signed for very long time periods and the situation on the ground has changed in the 10 to 15 years since.” 

The Baseball Field Working Group, formed this summer, identified issues with access to both baseball and soccer fields connected to the long-term contracts governing the fields. The working group’s concerns about structural issues that created hurdles for residents and local leagues to access fields motivated board members to bring forward the recommendation for voting. Local leagues have expressed frustration with restrictions that prevent adults sharing fields with youth sports organizations, and some board members expressed discontent with access points to fields.

“When you see that there are times when fields are unused or there is opportunity for support with repair, maintenance and operations, which continues to come up over and over again, it is certainly worth looking into,” Board Member Stephanie Bazan said. “We want to just see the data and be able to move forward and be better for our city.” 

“Seeing these facilities struggle and having our hand to help them can elevate the experience for the youth organizations in the community,” said Joel Manzo, one of the community members affiliated with Austin Sandlot Baseball and a member of the working group. 

Becker emphasized that the audit is not intended to identify “bad actors” but rather examine the scope and language of the contracts to design for better partnerships that serve the community as it evolves over time. 

Local residents and users of the field spaces expressed strong support for the recommendation. 

“This is of tremendous value to not only the adults but also the families that get to enjoy these properties,” Austin resident Justin Graber said. He advocated for “examining the contracts, making sure they are equitable and give everyone a fair shot at rentals” through transparent reservation processes.  

Board Chair Pedro Villalobos said that he hopes this audit process will increase accessibility to field spaces by ensuring that the city is engaging in strong partnerships with organizations that serve the city and its residents. 

“There needs to come a time when we tell all these organizations – who I believe have good intentions – that your supposed good intentions are getting in the way of community access to these spaces,” Villalobos said. 

Photo made available through a Creative Commons license.

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