It began in 2011 with an inclusive community engagement effort that resulted in a highly successful Parks, Recreation, and Natural Areas Plan. Based on community input, it targeted investments in natural corridors, inclusive play and park reinvestment. This award-winning Plan helped Renton—a small suburb of Seattle—fund $14.5 million in critical maintenance projects and win an additional $8.8 million in state and federal grant funding. 

And it continued in 2019, when Renton needed to revise the Plan to maintain compliance with the state’s six-year update requirement. With the same goal of broad community participation—this time with even more rigorous analysis. 

To address diverse city needs, the outreach strategy included recruiting and training trusted outreach ambassadors from the Mayor’s Inclusion Task Force. They engaged with all of Renton’s cultural and linguistic communities. This effort piloted a new outreach approach for Renton and expanded participation from previously underrepresented demographic groups. 

The process also included developing a staffing and operations analysis that evaluated staffing levels over time, benchmarked the City against its peers and made recommendations for future directions. The analysis helped City decision-makers recognize Renton’s increasing parks and recreation workload—despite stagnant staffing and funding levels—and resulted in specific recommendations to increase operational support and address the impacts on staff for all new capital projects.