Still Playing Out

A bit of a postscript on yesterday's post. Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks posted this on Facebook yesterday morning:

Thanks to all who came out for the July 4th Festival and Fireworks on the Lake last night and we hope you enjoyed the show. We do apologize for the delay in the start of the fireworks, which were scheduled for dusk but were pushed back due to a technical issue. We will work to ensure this is corrected for future years.

This was followed by ten relatively civil responses, none of which Rec and Parks bothered to respond to.

I have to admit when I read this, I did the forehead slap--"Oh, Rec & Parks, that explains it!"

Yes, what Rec and Parks does for Howard County is wonderful, I don't deny that. But their record on communication with the public isn't stellar. Consider the difficulties with the Emerson neighborhood concerning Blandair Park: not solely their fault, but would've been an entirely different scenario if they had put communication with residents at the top of their list.

Overall, I have heard plenty of anecdotal evidence that Rec & Parks are the people who don't get back to you. What happened on Saturday night seems like yet another example of a failure to communcate.

I hope that July 4th, 2014 serves as a genuine wake-up call for the County that all departments need to be at the top of their game when it comes to communication. The brilliance that the police department brought to the Columbia Mall shooting situation as they shared information with the public tells us that some folks know how it ought to be done.

Combine the awesome facilities and programs offered by HoCo Rec & Parks with excellent responsiveness and communication. Our entire county will be the better for it.

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