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Tuesday, June 10, 2003

By Jeffrey Cohan, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The appointment of a new seven-member Allegheny County Parks and Recreation Commission last week seemed like a perfect opportunity to give a young adult a voice in public policy.

	Online graphic: Commission members are 50 and older

Not a teenager. Just, say, someone under 50.

The perfect opportunity became a missed opportunity.

All seven members of the newly seated commission are at least 50 years old.

This partially explains why the administration of county Chief Executive Jim Roddey is actively recruiting a young adult who can recommend other young adults for service on various county boards and commissions.

"One of the goals is to try and find young people to serve on boards," said Roddey. "We've done some of that."

The parks commission, Roddey acknowledged, would benefit from having at least one relatively young member. After all, the county's nine parks can be considered amenities for retaining and attracting the young professionals whom this region hemorrhages and covets.

But, in selecting nominees, Roddey placed the highest premium on experience and accomplishments, dismissing the potential and perspective of any younger candidates.

Such omissions are disappointing to leaders of organizations that are trying to make Pittsburgh a more desirable place for young professionals to live.

"If we really want to be the type of region that is going to attract and keep young people here, then it's important to get them involved civically and professionally and personally, anyway that we can," said Marimba Milliones, president of Onyx Alliance, an organization of young black professionals.

Roddey relies on a 10-member committee to recruit and recommend nominees for seats on the approximately 40 boards and commissions to which he appoints people.

But that committee, too, is devoid of young adults. The youngest member, Mark DeSantis, is 43. The average age of the 10 members is 54.

DeSantis said it is difficult finding young adults who can make the commitment to a board or commission.

"In many cases, they're newly married. They have a kid. They are trying to establish themselves professionally, going above and beyond the call of duty at work," he said. "A lot of these young people, they can't afford that kind of block of time."

Nonetheless, Roddey predicts that the parks commission won't remain a 50-and-over club forever, or even for long.

"There is some discussion about expanding the commission," he said. "I'm in favor of that. Then we'll have an opportunity to appoint some young people."

That idea appeals to Connie Reiter-Kreps, the interim director of the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project, another group of young professionals.

"If the parks commission is expanded, PUMP would like to be represented," she said.

But Karen Wolk Feinstein, one of the newly seated commissioners, sees nothing wrong with the park panel's current membership.

"There is not a single person there who shouldn't be there," she said. "There is nobody who [Roddey] appointed who doesn't bring a lot of experience, extensive knowledge and a passion for parks."

While the commission lacks a member younger than 50, the appointees are diverse in other ways, a mixture of whites and blacks, Democrats and Republicans, city dwellers and suburbanites.

And it's not as if young adults are being completely excluded from park planning.

The director of the new county Parks Department, Andrew Baechle, is 42. And each of the nine parks will have its own advisory committee, creating more opportunities to give young adults a role.

Still, the 10-person group that finds candidates for boards and commissions is looking for a young adult who can help find other young adults.

"We need to do a better job of that and we will," Roddey said.