Good work at Dufferin Grove Park

Staffing the park

Park staff responsibilities -- documented by park staff, 2010

park garden potato crop

paperwork

skate lending

fixing things

washing salad for Friday Night Supper

An excerpt from Dufferin Grove Park as a Neighbourhood Commons, by Jutta Mason, 2016:

The “free ride” problem which Elinor Ostrom pointed out is only one item in her governance list. But it’s the problem that can extinguish good efforts in public spaces everywhere. Everyone knows of some community group which subdivided into five or six committees with great ideas, then dwindled to a few people with far more on their task list than they had time for -- and finally the group disappeared. There were not enough volunteers motivated to do all that unpaid work for the benefit of others.

And why should there be? In the case of public spaces, we have a tax-supported civil service. We pool our money to pay municipal staff to make parks work well, among other things. So from the very beginning, it seemed best to work hand in hand with park staff at Dufferin Grove, and to encourage good people to apply for those part-time park jobs.

Now, a little-known fact is that park litter pickers are paid a much higher hourly wage than the part-time recreation staff whose job is working with families and youth. But even so, job applicants for recreation program jobs at Dufferin Grove kept getting better and better. The work was interesting, and – very importantly – the low wages were partly compensated by the flexibility of part-time work schedules. University students, both undergraduate and graduate, began to apply, as well as actors, dancers, cooks, yoga teachers, translators, and neighbourhood mothers of young children. The advantages of flexible hours, and the friendly and adventuresome culture of the Dufferin Grove work crew, were an incentive for them to apply for a city part-time worker’s job despite the low wages. Some of the staff returned to working at the park for many seasons, in between their other work or study commitments.

That meant that staff turnover came to be much lower than normal for city part-time workers. With more experienced staff, used to working closely with park users, the park programs became steadily more ambitious.

making pizza with visiting Lawrence Heights kids

tea and cookies with Police Superintendent Ruth White

making a city-staff outdoor rinks handbook

sharing space

each one teach one

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