Brian Kates

Background

About Brian Kates

A Certified Park and Recreation Professional (CPRP) responsible for the daily operation of Meadows Park Community Center, a remarkable ft sq facility located in the heart of Stratton Meadows neighborhood in south Colorado Springs. It is where The Little Engine That Could meets John Henry. It is the Major League Baseball's 2004 ALCS and Robin Hood rolled into one, unassuming converted strip plaza. Featured on CNN, the Wall St Journal, The Independent of London and even ORF, the national Austrian television network, MPCC has received worldwide acclaim for its success in engaging and supporting all sectors of the community within a framework that connects resources with individuals and families in need. Though I do not subscribe to the theory that small government always means healthy government, this broad-based partnership operational model has provided more services with significantly less direct support from the local tax base. To that degree, the center is supported by many of the fiscally conservative members of the local community. And with the heavy involvement of the private sector whose services are insourced, this model is even favorable to some libertarians as well. In 2012, MPCC and its advisory committee, the Meadows Park Community Partnership, won the distinguished Innovation in Local Government Award through the Alliance For Innovation. The center and its BBP model was presented nationally at the 2012 Transforming Local Government Conference and national League of Cities Congress.