Hillsborough seeks young perspectives on Parks and Recreation Board

A new seat reserved specifically for teenagers will allow Hillsborough youth to contribute their voices and perspectives as members of the Hillsborough Parks and Recreation Board.

The Hillsborough Parks and Recreation Board creates master plans for the town’s parks and natural areas, helps determine new park project priorities and makes budget requests to the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners, according to the town’s website. The board is also creating a spot specifically for a person over the age of 55.

The new seat, reserved for those between 13 and 19 years old, was created to help the board hear from groups often underrepresented in its discussions, said Public Space Manager Stephanie Trueblood in a press release. 

“If you look at the existing parks in Hillsborough, we have a riverwalk that appeals to everyone, but our parks are mostly for families with young children," said Trueblood. "There’s not really any outdoor public spaces that are dedicated for older kids and teenagers."

For many years, Trueblood said, the parks and recreation board found it difficult to get teenagers and preteens to voice their input over a long period of time.

Trueblood said this is because the town often has waves of teenagers who are interested in a particular subject, but once they reach driving age or leave for college, the town loses contact with them. 

“It’s a group that turns over very rapidly,” said Trueblood. “We’ve known for many years that that’s an issue, we just don’t have a way to keep the conversation going, to keep the ball rolling.”

In April, the board held a joint advisory meeting with all of the parks and recreation advisory boards in Orange County. At this meeting, the boards discussed how to increase community participation, and the group working on this topic decided to focus primarily on teenagers and adolescents. 

One of the ideas generated at the meeting was to create a designated position on the board for a teenager. 

The following month, the full board discussed the idea and agreed to propose it to the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners in June. 

“The main demographic for a park is a family with their children, and they’re who we think of most when we’re planning a park, but we realized that younger people and older people, their voices were not really being heard,” said Mark Bell, a Hillsborough town commissioner. “Different age groups have different interests, and certainly, teenagers are into the kinds of activities that little kids are not.”

The Parks and Recreation Board has ten seats, and rather than add an additional one, the seat specifically reserved for teenagers is included within these ten spots.  

Hillsborough commissioner Evelyn Lloyd said reserving a seat for the youth is a good idea and can give them the chance to see how government works. 

“I think it’s good to have some diversity,” Lloyd said. “As I’ve said, it’s not so easy to get what you want. You have to see the certain process you go through, and then you have to see how much money it is, how much it’s going to cost and where you’re going to get the money from to keep it in good shape.”

All teenagers that live within Hillsborough town limits or the town’s extraterritorial jurisdiction are eligible to apply. 

As of Friday, Aug. 30, Trueblood said she had received two applications for the seat in the past 24 hours. 

“I hope that they will bring new perspectives that will help the advisory board think outside the box about things that would be engaging to them,” said Bell. “We don’t want them to not have opportunities for recreation.”

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