Right from the start of his new role, Shawn Fredrickson emphasized a key priority.
“Butte-Silver Bow’s Parks and Recreation Department is, by far, the lowest-funded parks and rec department when compared to other major cities in Montana and the lowest-funded department within the city and county of Butte-Silver Bow and it’s not even its own department,” Fredrickson told commissioners just after they confirmed him as parks director Wednesday night.
He then said that “is a discussion for another day” but tossed in two more pitches during a brief talk to the same council he chaired before resigning two weeks ago to take his new job.
“I just ask that you think about these facts as we work together to move the natural infrastructure up the priority list,” he said.
J.P. Gallagher, Butte-Silver Bow’s chief executive, chose Fredrickson to succeed Bob Lazzari as parks director, and commissioners confirmed the choice on an 8-0 vote Wednesday night. Lazzari retired late last year.
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Although it has its own director and is often called a department, Parks and Recreation here is actually a division under the umbrella of Public Works.
Commissioner Hattie Thatcher praised Fredrickson’s tenure on the council and said the county’s park system is in good hands.
She also took note of his comments on funding.
“Nice timing, Shawn, with budget cycle coming up,” Thatcher said with a laugh.
Commissioners won’t vote on a new county budget until August but Gallagher noted Thursday, in comments to The Montana Standard, that the process for crafting that spending plan is well underway.
“The budget requests have already been submitted prior to Shawn taking over as parks and rec director,” he said. “We are evaluating the existing budget requests that were already submitted and we are not looking at big increases to the parks budget this year.”
Gallagher was Butte-Silver Bow’s parks director for six years before he was elected chief executive in November 2020. Fredrickson was a commissioner for six years who also served on the parks board since 2019.
Both backed efforts for an updated Parks Master Plan that would look at existing park properties, operations and funding, seek public input, and make recommendations for improvements.
Work began on the plan in November 2021 and it was presented to commissioners early last year.
Butte-Silver Bow has 56 park sites, including small “mini parks,” larger neighborhood and community parks, and special use areas such as sports fields, trails and the waterpark that have specific uses and/or generate revenue.
It also has five open spaces that include trails and the Big Butte area and two “regional parks” that have multiple uses and draw folks from other places. Those are Thompson Park and Stodden Park.
The plan compared Butte’s parks system to those in Helena, Idaho Falls and Cedar City, Utah — places chosen because they’re close to Butte’s population, have other similarities and are not funded by large “park districts” that have separate taxing authority.
According to the Master Plan, Butte-Silver Bow was last in several parks departmental expense categories, including total spending per capita. That figure was $50.77 for Butte, $104.71 for Cedar City, $125.21 for Helena and $272.16 for Idaho Falls. Butte’s 18 fulltime parks employees also ranked last among the cities.
Extensive surveys of Butte residents showed support for more investments in parks in general. In particular, citizens want more trails, more off-leash dog parks and more than anything, they want an indoor recreation center.
It is common practice for new department chiefs to say a few words after commissioners confirm their appointments and Fredrickson did that Wednesday night.
He spoke for only 3 1/2 minutes and thanked several people, including his wife, children and other family members for their support and Gallagher for making the hire.
“Over the years, I have voted a few times against J.P.’s recommendations and I think it’s a testament to his leadership that he would look past those votes and still hire me,” Fredrickson said.
But he spoke to funding at the beginning of his talk and at the end, noting on the front end the 56 parks and other things the parks division oversees.
“Butte-Silver Bow’s Parks and Recreation Department has incredible employees with not a lot of resources to support them,” Fredrickson said.
He ended with findings he cited from the National Parks and Recreation Association.
“U.S. adults want their political leaders to fully fund parks and recreation,” Fredrickson said. “In fact, 62% of U.S. adults — crossing ages, income levels and political affiliation — are more likely to vote for politicians such as mayors or chief executives or council members who make parks and recreation funding a priority.”
Gallagher used to oversee parks and is now running for a second term as chief executive. He faces Bill Foley in the November election.
Gallagher said Atlantic Richfield is making a lot of upgrades to Butte’s parks now through mining reclamation work “so parks are not without a lot of improvements this year.”
But Fredrickson is taking the helm when the budget process for this year is well underway, Gallagher said, so any big funding increases with taxpayer dollars will have to wait.
“I think it would be fair to say that this year will be an evaluation period for Shawn to understand the needs of the parks department before he would have a list of priorities to submit,” Gallagher said.
Mike Smith is a reporter at the Montana Standard with an emphasis on government and politics.
“U.S. adults want their political leaders to fully fund parks and recreation. In fact, 62% of U.S. adults — crossing ages, income levels and political affiliation — are more likely to vote for politicians such as mayors or chief executives or council members who make parks and recreation funding a priority.”
Shawn Fredrickson, Butte-Silver Bow parks director
