Centre For Local Research into Public Space (CELOS)
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2024
May 31, 2024, to Adam Tyzler, CRP for DG
Hello Adam,
There is an issue at the cob kitchen that I want to bring to your attention. For weeks there has been uncleaned-up litter around this structure, suggesting that it's not on any staff person's job list. Yesterday, for instance, there was toilet paper and feces, abandoned blankets, and plastic waste.
As we know, litter attracts litter. And since this structure is also a de facto part of the playground and lots of kids play hide-and-seek there, could you find a way to put it on somebody's daily maintenance list?
I realize that it's most likely Parks that deals with litter, but your manager sent me a list suggesting you as the first-off contact for all park issues. Please let me know if this can be resolved. In order to help, I will try to let you know when/whether the problem persists, and put your name as the contact in the June 13 newsletter.
May 31, 2024, response from Adam Tyzler
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will connect with parks today to request that the cob is cleaned up. In the future, these types of issues can be sent directly to Parks. Here are the main contacts.
Nancy Carneiro
Nancy.Carneiro@toronto.ca
Andrea Chow
Andrea.Chow@toronto.ca
May 31, 2024, to Adam
I've now included those two Parks staff in this issue. I'd like to cc you on the updates, since the cob kitchen is part of the playground program area that ought to involve rec staff. I've also included Eric To. Last year the wading pool staff were under the impression that picking up or reporting this kind of (or any) litter near the wading pool (which is right beside the cob structure, have a look) was not part of their job. Perhaps this year that can change.
Is that reporting okay with you and your manager?
June 3, to Adam Tyzler
Sadly, no NW park building rec staff are currently assigned to keep their eyes on this very popular program area (the cob kitchen).
Adam, since two rec staff are in the park building 9 to 9 seven days a week, would it be possible for them to take some walks through the park in between their a.m. and p.m shovels set-out and take-down?
June 6, 2024, from Adam:
Rec staff will do a scan of the area when they bring out and put away shovels and report if there is any litter in the area.
The great news is that Parks has assigned staff to litter pick the park. They have been here daily. They will focus on cleaning that area.
June 7, 2024
From: Jutta Mason <juttamason@gmail.com> Sent: Friday, June 7, 2024 2:03 PM To: Andrea Chow <Andrea.Chow@toronto.ca>; Adam Tyzler <Adam.Tyzler@toronto.ca> Cc: Nancy Carneiro <Nancy.Carneiro@toronto.ca>; Michelle Sirianni <Michelle.Sirianni@toronto.ca>; Cathy Vincelli <Cathy.Vincelli@toronto.ca>; Eric To <Eric.To@toronto.ca> Subject: [External Sender] 2 jurisdictional questions -- parks? or rec?
Hi Adam and all --
1. Is there an agreement as to who (parks? or rec?) will be spreading the wood chips inside the cob enclosure?
2. The sandpit/adventure playground area is intensively used by kids of all ages. Rec staff formerly (until about 2018) checked the area for broken toys with sharp edges and other trash, and cleaned and raked, several times a day plus start/finish whenever extra-many kids came.
In whose jurisdiction is that now? I think most or all DG rec staff are assigned to day camps this summer, so does that mean they will also be doing this as-needed litter picking in the playground? Or maybe they'll only do it when those specific DG camp kids are there, not otherwise? Where will the buck stop for ensuring this happens?
Or, again, could that be an assignment for the wading pool rec staff, since the sandpit is also a water feature?
As you can imagine, this is not a hypothetical question.
June 11, 2024. from Michelle Sirani, recreation supervisor
....On the rec side, yes there will be camp staff around. As well, there will be building staff in rotation to help monitor the park i.e. put up/take down shovels, scan the area for debris….
We will coordinate our efforts between Parks and Recreation, to ensure that the overall park is safe to use.
June 11, 2024, from aquatics manager Eric To:
Aquatic staff will be cleaning up any debris and/or litter in their program area as part of their opening and closing checks.
I’ve copied Mary Elmaassarany here as the Supervisor that oversees the wading pool operation at Dufferin Grove whom I believe you have spoken to and met with.
June 11, 2024, to Eric:
Thanks Eric, good to hear. Two questions:
1. Does the WP staff's program area, for cleaning up litter, include the sandpit water feature?
2. Will a metal-handle litter bag and the appropriate small rake be included in the WP staff's equipment this year? Last year rec staff borrowed a litter kit from the onsite Park staff because they had none of their own.
June 25, 2024
Hi Eric, would you be able to answer the two questions below, sent on June 11?
June 25, 2024, from Eric
It does not. Staff are required to be in the vicinity of the wading pool enclosure as part of Regulation 565. As we don’t know when members of the public are going to utilize the wading pool, they need to be on site through the duration of the shift.
Staff are provided with equipment to clean debris surrounding the wading pool. We can purchase this to aid in their maintenance duties.
June 25, 2024
Happily, the waterplay sandpit is definitely in the vicinity of the wading pool (non) enclosure. And of course, if there are three staff, that means one could always rotate back and forth to cover the sandpit safety.
Since this is obvious, I assume I should write in the July newsletter that the city simply, on principle, does not intend to include the waterplay area in the WP job at this time.
I was planning to do a longer feature on the wading pool for the August 1 newsletter, by which time there will have been more chances to see how Aquatics does this year, to include the budget information, and so on.
June 26, 2024
To clarify, this isn’t done “on principle”. Aquatic staff will prioritize regulatory standards as their primary responsibilities. Throughout previous summers, you have made requests and aquatic staff have always assisted. Where aquatic staff can help, they always do and will continue to do so.
Looking forward to working cooperatively again this summer.
2023
July 11, 2023
Original message --------
From: Jutta Mason <juttamason@gmail.com>
Date: 2023-07-11 12:28 p.m. (GMT-05:00)
To: Andrea Chow <Andrea.Chow@toronto.ca>
Cc: Dufferin Grove Park <dufferingrovefriends@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [External Sender] your wading pool attendants need "unexpected-danger" training
Dear Ms.Chow,
Yesterday a rare moment of water-related danger arose at Dufferin Grove Park which would have benefited from 15 minutes of help from one of your wading pool staff.
The adventure playground sandpit (immediately beside the wading pool) had a very deep hole dug in it by kids, and this year there is often no rec program staff to see what's happening. Here's a photo I took:
<image002.jpg>
The hole was filling up with water from the waterplay tap, and it just needed to be filled in with sand before more muddy water could accumulate. There was lots of sand right there, lots of shovels, just needed a bit of muscle.
I asked one of the wading pool staff if he could help some parents fill in the hole, but although he was very nice, he had to inform me that in their training they were specifically told that their only job is to attend to the wading pool. There were two staff and the pool was still filling. But their training says that the only times one of them can leave is (1) to go to the washroom or (2) to go on their (staggered) breaks.
Would it be possible to direct your staff, in their training, that in a case where there might be a danger that can easily be avoided (i.e. not a 911 call), the staff could use their judgment to help out and they wouldn't get in trouble?
I am copying our local listserv on this because the park users sometimes get exasperated with scenes like this:
<image004.jpg>
...and I want them to know that it's not because the staff are lazy. If you as the manager of city Aquatics can remedy this small training problem, it would be good if you reply to this listserv so that people can be glad.
July 11, 2023
On Tue, Jul 11, 2023 at 2:35 PM Eric To <Eric.To@toronto.ca> wrote:
Thanks for your email and your feedback.
While we both can appreciate that they are following their training, I've asked my Supervisors copied on this email to follow up with staff to assist and/or ensure a proper contact is notified to remedy a potential issue and/or situation.
Should you have any questions and/or concerns, Mary and Travis oversee the area and district that Dufferin Grove is under the umbrella of.
Mary.Elmaassarany@toronto.ca
Travis.Bailey@toronto.ca
July 11, 2023, from Lily Weston
Saw three staff sitting at a picnic table this am at a small empty pool at Northumberland park by Ossington subway.
Aug 7, 2023
to Mary.Elmaassarany, Travis.Bailey, Eric.To, Anthony, Birko, Cheryl
Hi again, I never did get an answer from you to my July 11 question. Since then, it has become increasingly obvious that the wading pool staff are almost paralyzed with boredom and sleepiness for most of their shifts. They are getting fairly frequent suggestions from me re litter removal around the wading pool and outside your portable toilets. That may be kind of embarrassing for them and I don't enjoy it either. Their inactivity is a subject of talk among park users, although the consensus seems to be that most wading pools operate the same way.
Supervision of their work seems to be minimal or only when your staff Paulo comes to pick up their time sheets.
In the thirty years I've been involved with Toronto parks, I have seen quite a lot of different ways the wading pools can operate. I think you might find it helpful to come down to the Dufferin Grove pool and have a little discussion about how to improve this one, so I am inviting you to meet.
If this conversation is of interest, please let me know a couple of times when you could come and talk about the issues.
Aug.10, 2023
Travis Bailey <Travis.Bailey@toronto.ca>
Aug 10, 2023, 3:53 PM
to Eric, Mary, me
Hi Jutta,
Thanks for your feedback with regards to the wading pool at Dufferin Grove.
Wading Pool Attendant staff are responsible to supervise and monitor the immediate area within the wading pool and to ensure a safe environment for the users which are primarily young children. This includes to sweep and clean the dry pad and wading pool vicinity prior to fill.
We've assigned senior staff to conduct additional site visits to ensure these jobs are being fulfilled and monitored on a regular basis.
Travis Bailey
Supervisor Community Recreation
West Toronto York - Aquatics
Parks Forestry & Recreation
Office: 416-394-2744
Aug.14, 2023
Dear Travis, Your response to my offer to meet at Dufferin Grove makes it clear that this is not of interest to wading pool management. So maybe I can help you with your staffing problem in another way. I've started a new page on the dufferinpark.ca website called "park snapshots," with a subsection for the wading pool. Note that these are verbal "snapshots."
Here's my post for today so far:
At 11 a.m. there are three staff sitting at the edges of the wading pool. One is drawing, one is looking at their cell phone, and one is staring at the ground. The pool has one small child wading toward the middle, whose mother is watching him closely. Around the cement apron of the pool there is litter of all kinds -- a mask, a few empty coffee cups, some broken plastic toys, old tissues. There are also two pairs of kids' shoes and a crumpled shirt lying in a pile.
I will send the link to this verbal "snapshots" page to the neighbourhood lists from time to time, inviting input from others. This is not a page for snitching on your teenage staff, but rather for recording how your current setup functions in the day-to-day.
My invitation for a friendly meeting stands.
Aug.14, 2023
Mary Elmaassarany <Mary.Elmaassarany@toronto.ca>
Hi Jutta,
Thanks for your email. My Name is Mary Elmaassarany and I am the Community Recreation Supervisor that oversees the Wading pool in this area including Dufferin Grove. Travis was very kind as to cover me while I was on vacation last week, I have removed him from the correspondence as I have returned.
I will be sure to have some senior staff go over to this location to ensure staff are following the correct supervision of the wading pool.
Aug.14, 2023
At 11 a.m. there are three staff sitting at the edges of the wading pool. One is drawing, one is looking at their cell phone, and one is staring at the ground. The pool has one small child wading toward the middle, whose mother is watching him closely. Around the cement apron of the pool there is litter of all kinds -- a mask, a few empty coffee cups, some broken plastic toys, old tissues. There are also two pairs of kids' shoes and a shirt lying in a pile.
At 3 pm, two staff are hunched right over in their beach chairs, as though they might be asleep. But it turns out they're not asleep, they're just trying to block the light that's making it hard to read their phone screens.
Aug.17, 2023
At 3 pm there are two WP staff, one of whom is talking to a child who's drawing with crayons at the new craft table, the other one with their head on their arms at the end of the table, resting. There are 6 kids in the pool but no staff are looking in their direction.
At 4.30 p.m. three WP staff are drawing with crayons on a large sheet of paper bent over the craft table. They have switched on the water to refill the pool, but none of them are looking in that direction, and so the water gets higher and higher and starts to extend beyond the pool surface into the sandy area nearby. Eventually a recreation staff goes over and points this out to them. They drain the pool and refill it.
Aug.18, 2023
1 p.m.: A chilly day with wind. Nobody in the pool. Two staff sitting by the pool and no craft table. Staff say they will only set up the table on Tuesdays and Thursdays, because Rec staff are doing it all the other days. (They are not.)
Wed, Aug 30, 2023
to Mary, Eric Hi Mary, Dufferin Grove has a wading pool and a waterplay adventure playground right beside it. Because there's no other Toronto park with such a resource, the city WP staff attend to the pool but not to the other (much more heavily used) waterplay part.
That means that this past summer your staff have had many hours of just sitting with nothing to do while the care of the sandpit waterplay often remained undone. It would be helpful to put the care of the two elements together. There will soon be an open letter to the new GM, signed by many park users. One of the topics will be the staffing of the city's WPs.
Since the WPs are still going for a few more days, it would be helpful if we could meet and discuss the situation onsite. Could you make time for this in the next few days?
Jutta
But she was away on vacation until September. Then we met at an empty pool and that was the end of it.