The City of Tampa Park and Recreation's pavilion, the elimination of paper applications, and the implementation of online-only applications, limiting potential opportunity for people in the direct community around Desoto Park. Also, the elimination of jobs that were once available, now are no longer available through the City of Tampa online. While the City of Tampa has increased their budget for depreciating assets like vehicles or creating jobs elsewhere, they have took out certain coaching positions at DeSoto Park, not only taking out certain coaching positions at DeSoto Park, not creating more coaching positions at DeSoto Park. Also, the implementation of online only applications and a limited slot opportunity online applications brings people from the outside of the proximity of the direct community, limiting opportunity for residents at DeSoto Park and Recreations.Online applications increase the number of applicants applying to limited jobs, also bringing applicants from outside of the proximity of the area, limiting job opportunities for people in the community that might want to coach at the park. Without fair representation or explanation of why the skate park coach would be eliminated. When I was a kid, coaches and park and recreations, the people maintaining the park would primarily be on foot. Now noticing an increase in park and recreation and the supportive roles of people in vehicles further separating themselves from the actual environment itself, The amount of resources that are put towards labor positions maintaining the park far outweigh the resources put into coaching positions at the park. Applicants that were to apply to online applications only, in comparison to the quality of individuals that were coaches when I was a kid, to where it was coaching with an objective, with a purpose.

The coaches that used to coach in the park were well-known in the neighborhood, well-known in the park by majority of individuals in comparison to people that show up from the outside of the area, only applying  because it's available online, not necessarily showing up to fill out an application, then to be considered for the job as a qualified applicant. Desoto Park should be in the state of consistent, continuous growth, building off of the previous coaches' success and the opportunities they made available to residents in the area and the programs they helped push.Desoto Park being one of the oldest parks in the city of Tampa, also being directly across the street from Desoto Elementary. One might think the programs made available to previous generations would not just vanish in a short period of time.

When I was growing up attending DeSoto Park, people from the direct community around the park had the opportunity to walk into the pavilion, learn about available coaching positions, fill out paper applications, and become involved in programs that served local youth. Many of the coaches, mentors, and recreation leaders lived in the surrounding neighborhood and had a direct connection to the children and families they served.

Today, the City of Tampa has removed paper applications from the DeSoto Park pavilion and adopted an online-application-only system. At the same time, many of the coaching and recreation opportunities that once appeared to be available when I was a kid attending the park are no longer visible or appear to have been reduced. This includes opportunities such as soccer coaches, flag football coaches, computer lab coaches, pavilion coaches, and other community-based positions.

Even if you don't live in a direct area, if youve experienced paper applications coming from an older generation going into a newer generation adopting online applications, virtually taking the paper applications out of existence. This petition is also to bring awareness to that, of something nobody had a say in, nobody had a vote for. It was just this adaptation out of our control. That companies, corporations, government facilities adopting online applications only without realizing or taking into consideration the possible negative STEM effect of removing the paper application, only to be able to see the possible negative STEM effect years later.

The online-only system expands the applicant pool far beyond the immediate neighborhood. Residents who live in the direct community surrounding DeSoto Park are now competing with applicants from outside the area for a limited number of positions. As a result, local residents may not have the same opportunity to become involved in their neighborhood park as they once did.

From my own observations over the years, I have seen a substantial decline in the quality, availability, and presence of coaches at DeSoto Park. In some cases, positions that once had active community involvement appear to be absent altogether. Desoto Park used to have a soccer team, DeSoto Park used to have an active soccer team that would participate in soccer leagues, playing other parks from around the area, making it to the championship undefeated. With the community directly surrounding the DeSoto Park has kids that play soccer in the streets, but not necessarily seeing an avenue back to the parks and recreation where we used to have a soccer coach. 

I believe the removal of paper applications has reduced access to opportunities for local residents and weakened the connection between DeSoto Park and the community it was built to serve.

This petition calls for:

• The return of paper job applications at DeSoto Park.

• The option to apply either online or by paper application.

• Greater transparency regarding coaching and recreation opportunities available at the park.

• A review of how online-only applications have affected opportunities for residents living in the direct community surrounding DeSoto Park.

• A commitment to ensuring local residents have a fair opportunity to serve as coaches, mentors, and recreation leaders within their own neighborhood park.

If you are a resident of Palmetto Beach, attended DeSoto Park growing up, have coached at the park, or have concerns about these changes, I encourage you to support this petition and share your experiences.

Our community deserves a voice in decisions that affect opportunities for local residents and future generations of children who use DeSoto Park.

Another concern is the lack of consistent representation for DeSoto Park and the surrounding Palmetto Beach community at Tampa City Council meetings.

DeSoto Park is an important part of the community, yet there does not appear to be a designated representative consistently attending City Council meetings on behalf of the park and the residents who live around it. Decisions affecting the park, recreation programs, coaching opportunities, hiring practices, and community resources can be made without direct input from someone who works at the park or regularly represents the interests of the surrounding neighborhood.

Without consistent representation, community members often do not learn about changes until after they have already been implemented, including changes such as the elimination of paper job applications and the transition to online-only application systems in parks and recs.