City Council could use a few more good men and women to step forward and offer to serve on Philadelphia's new Commission on Parks and Recreation.
With just days to go until the Monday deadline, the applicant pool is barely large enough to fill the nine-member panel that Mayor Nutter will name to replace the Fairmount Park Commission, which phases out in June. Council is supposed to send the mayor a list of 18 to 25 candidates from which he will nominate.
Those who have stepped forward so far may be stellar candidates all, but the turnout hardly reflects the enthusiasm voters expressed in the Nov. 4 election to improve Fairmount Park by merging it with the city Recreation Department.
The City Charter change that voters overwhelmingly approved merely began the process of unifying two agencies that - following years of underfunding - face even greater challenges in the current economic climate. In pushing for the change, voters smartly bought into the mayor's vision for a green, sustainable city that maximized its extraordinary, if somewhat tattered, parks and recreation resources.
A key charge for the nine parks commissioners who are appointed by Nutter will be to develop guidelines to safeguard the 9,200-acre Fairmount Park for future generations. That makes the job tailor-made for some current Fairmount Park Commission members, whose experience could provide valuable continuity during the transition.
Those named to the new commission are supposed to be chosen on the strength of skills in various areas, including expertise in parks-and-recreation issues, fund-raising, community involvement, and preservation - areas well-represented in city and suburban civic circles. (Besides Philadelphia residents, panelists can be chosen from Bucks, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties.)
The parks and recreation merger should be a time of many firsts, and the new commissioners will have front-row seats as well as genuine input into those policies.
Volunteers and friends groups can always be counted on to help maintain and support the city's parks, playgrounds, and rec centers. With the stakes as high as they are, now is no time for that dedication to flag.