News

Trustee Willie Carden Jr. in the News

08/29/08

Willie Carden Jr., sartorially splendid in a pink shirt with white collar, matched tie, and freshly polished shoes, places four bottles of wine on a conference table at his Eden Park Drive headquarters. He arranged them to showcase the labels: Alms, Friendship, Mt. Storm, Mt. Echo (a fifth, Ault, is temporarily missing), and expounds: “We have searched the five parks that used to be vineyards – and through historical interpretation, the kinds of grapes they grew – and from that we have recreated the wine they produced.” Last summer the vintages were featured in Views and Vines, a wine-tasting bus tour that drew young professionals to the parks.



It’s an ingenious idea: dip into the parks’ 19th century heritage to attract 21st century fans. “Nobody is as creative as we are,” Carden says.



He isn’t bragging. Bragging is the last thing Willie Carden is about. Rather, it’s his enthusiasm for another in a long list of great ideas that has welled up since Carden became director of Parks eight years ago – ideas such as the annual spring Hats Off luncheon that has raised $500,000 for the construction of Riverfront Park; the Sister City projects that brought us Peter Haimerl’s Castle of Air from Munich (now in Friendship Park) and the Scholar Stone waves of volunteers that created (among other things) the Mt. Airy bridge and tree house, the green initiatives, the wireless oases, the dog parks, and the Krohn Conservatory tent with its endless events.



“It’s their expertise, not mine,” he says. “The team’s, the park board’s. I’ve never worked with a more ego-free group of leaders.” That’s what makes the park system so good, he says; so good, in fact, that it is now among the nation’s best, according to the Trust for Public Land in Washington, D.C. The TPL, which regularly ranks the nation’s municipal parks, places Cincinnati in the top four, alongside Boston, Minneapolis, and Seattle. A lifelong Cincinnatian and local booster to the core, Carden sees the upgrading of the parks in a world-class context: “I think Europe in general understands the value of green. They get it over there. We’re just starting to understand the value of a beautiful city.”



It was not always so. Ask interested observers from a generation ago, and they’ll recall bland landscapes and neglected pavilions as far as the eye could see. There was even talk of padlocking some properties for lack of funds to maintain them. What we now take for granted, what we brag about and look upon as normal – the floral carpets and fountains that work, the groomed lawns and gleaming gazebos, the restored buildings, new public art, and newly constructed overlooks – actually have a provenance, and that would be the arrival of Willie Carden in 2000. Ask what the parks were like then and he’ll grade them “maybe a B.” Now, he says, they’re an A-. “And we’re trying to bring them to A+.”



On the front end, Carden’s grading is generous. On the back, it’s tough. But you don’t get premier parks by setting the bar low.



“People need to know about the economic engine that is the Cincinnati Parks!” Carden exclaims. A bit of showman, he can turn any discussion of the parks into a stemwinder, and now he is warming up: “We are one of the things people come here to see!” The excitement builds. “Last year, we brought in 8 million visitors to see the beauty of the parks!” Wow! “In 2007, we had 87,000 hours of volunteer [labor], which translates to $1.4 million in dollars donated!” He is thrilled, thrilled for the city. “All I do is leverage,” he continues. “All I do is leverage! Give me five dollars, and I’ll bring you back a hundred.



Leverage, Carden explains, is advocacy. It is getting people “to believe in the product,” and then support it. Leverage is “using the power of the park board’s brand and the foundation’s brand” to raise money – from individuals, corporations, and foundations; from municipal and state government; and from the volunteers who give their time. Each year, this kind of leverage provides about 8 percent, or just under $1 million, of the park’ operating budget. Leverage, in the form of funds raised from donors, hosted the Chinese delegation that launched this year’s butterflies at Krohn. Leverage (more donations) funded the garden park Cincinnati gave to Munich in return for the Haimerl sculpture. And leverage, $40 million dollars’ worth (capitalizing on all of the above-mentioned funding sources), will jump-start the proposed 45-acre Riverfront Park fronting The Banks, set to break ground this month.



Riverfront Park, which will stretch from the river to Mehring Way, and from stadium to stadium, is envisioned as the front door of the city and a centerpiece of the proposed Banks project. Plans are to create a “destination” park, with cascading fountains, promenades, trails, groves of trees, and formal gardens. Approximately $80 million of the park’s $120 million price tag is coming from federal, state, and city funding; the rest must be raised privately. It’s a huge project; one that will literally change the face of the city. In the long list of endeavors undertaken since Carden took the helm, nothing compares to this.



Cathy Moon, a Parks Foundation volunteer for 12 years, remembers Carden’s first meeting with his new staff when he took the helm in 2000. “There was all the usual hubbub, and Willie just stood there, and looked out, with his arms folded,” she says. “Gradually, the room quieted down, and Willie said, ‘Good Morning!’ And they all responded. And then he said it again, and he just seemed to be in control.”



Moon says that Carden is an unusually gifted manager who uses the simple phrase “Thank you” the way Picasso used paint. “He starts every meeting – with employees, with trustees, with the Foundation with ‘thank you,’ and he writes notes, and sometimes, even though we tell him not to, he sends flowers. He just seems able to get the volunteers to be enthusiastic.”



Moon says that each year he introduces a theme for the employees; last year, it was “Good to Great,” drawing on Jim Collins’ best-selling treatise on managerial savvy. The leitmotif Carden extracted from it is the importance of hiring good people, Moon says. “Willie picks very good people.”



One of those people is Gerald Checco, the parks’ superintendent of land management and beautification operations. Once a teacher of math and physics, Checco is also an engineer with a master’s degree in civil and public administration and a passionate advocate of alternative energy. Carden’s attitude makes it possible for Checco to explore “green” solutions, such as the park’s Big Belly solar-powered trash compactors. “We have a leader who is going to look at any proposal from the staff, study it seriously, and then empower the staff to succeed with it,” Checco says. “Even in times when great proposals have trouble succeeding, I have the comfort of knowing I have Willie behind me. You’re never out on your own without his support.”



That kind of workplace culture seems to be paying off. There are 120 people in Checco’s division today; in the 1980s, there were 450. He says the division is more effective now: “We have people who are passionate. We have people who made a choice to be here by studying environmental issues. When you expect excellence from people, that’s half the battle.”



And excellence is what Carden expects.



Nobody would have expected Willie Carden to stake his career on fountains and flowerbeds. He grew up in Avondale and Mt. Healthy and graduation from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in economics and finance. He has a keen mind for numbers, and it was quickly put to use in his first with the city, as an analyst in personnel, where he worked frequently on labor negotiations. In 1992, he became stadium manager of Riverfront Stadium, which is where his ability to skillfully oversee people and places became evident; five years later, when the teams transitioned out of Riverfront, he became facility manager for the city, with responsibility for 86 buildings, everything from police headquarters to City Hall.



In 1999, he began working with Cincinnati attorney Charlie Lindberg on a task force to raise money for refurbishing the Tyler Davidson Fountain. Lindberg’s wife, Marian, was (and still is) president of the Park Bard, which was then engaged in a nationwide search for a new director. Lindberg was so impressed with Carden’s energy, charisma, and presentation skills that he told Marian she need look no further. “Willie was so efficient, such a top of the line kind of guy,” Lindberg says. “And he’s the hardest-working person I’ve ever seen.”



Carden, for his part, was wary. He knew nothing about the city park system, except that it took a decided back seat to police and fire, traditionally the two municipal powerhouses. Charlie Lindberg talked to him. “I told him they didn’t need someone who was a park person,” Lindberg explains. “They needed an administrator. I said, ‘It’s a great opportunity. Your life will change.’”



And it has. On a typical day this past May, Carden got up as usual, at 4:30 a.m., ate breakfast, caught a few minutes of CNBC, then headed to the YMCA for his daily work-out. He shined his shoes, which he does every day (“I’m really big into shining shoes”) and was in the office, as always, between 7:45 and 8:15 a.m. The day passed with a series of meetings, ranging from public school officials (“to talk about property issues”) to an upset bride who wanted her 2009 wedding in Ault Park (“she had botched the voice box reservation system, but you know you cant have an upset bride, so I worked it out…”).



Along the way, he made preparations with the staff for the Hats Off luncheon, a two-year-old annual fundraiser created by the women’s committee of the Park Foundation; met Diane Botnick from the Garden Conservancy, a national organization assessing Cincinnati as the site for its May 2009 outing; scheduled a date to speak to a group of African American teenagers in need of a role model; lunched with vice-mayor David Crowley, who had some ideas for the parks; briefed councilwoman Laketa Cole on the Parks Foundation’s role in hosting an upcoming trip to Chine; held a mid-afternoon staff meeting to talk about Riverfront Park; and by 5 p.m. he was in executive session at a meeting of the Children’s Hospital board, a meeting that ended in time for him to be a Walnut Hills High School for his son’s track meet. (Carden’s son was representing St. Xavier. Another child attends Summit; a third graduated from Cincinnati Country Day School. All three are fluent in Spanish.) Carden rarely takes vacation. He frequently works weekends. His staff reports that his e-mails to them can come any day, any hour.



Now 48, Carden plans to be with the parks for the remainder of his career. In that time, one of his priorities will be to secure his legacy. Which means making sure the parks are on solid financial ground – a not-inconsiderable challenge in light of the budgeting pressures at City Hall. In 2007, the operating budget for the parks was just under $12.2 million, with the bulk coming from general and infrastructure funds. This is money that Carden has to fight for every year.



That’s because no city department has a guaranteed annual allocation. Police and fire get 64 percent of the available $274 million in the city departments’ general fund; other departments, including parks, must compete for the remaining 36 percent. What this comes down to, for parks, is about 1.8 cents on every available dollar.



Every September, Carden makes the case for the funds he seeks. He prepares for the task with glossy covered “plan and performance” binders that would be the envy of any large corporate communications department. Each is illustrated with color photographs of park activities and contains a narrative of the fiscal year’s specific targets divided into categories of critical, important, and innovative. Last year there were 48 performance targets, and all were met or “exceeded expectation,” according to Carden.



The upshot – boosted by Carden’s ceaseless advocacy – seems to be an increased awareness of the parks’ place in city operations. He’s now frequently included in discussions such as the morning meeting with public school officials. This represents a new role for the parks – one that Carden has long sought, and for which he is proud, but hardly content.



“I have to put together an infrastructure that, if I’m hit by a bus, we keep rolling,” he explains. “The only way I can be consistent is to have dedicated funding.” He wants to restructure the way horticulture is supervised, to move it away from the current decision-by-committee process. He’d like a full-time graphics person to produce parks materials, too. And when the Parks Foundation hires its own executive director (right now, he’s serving as its head) it will be one more step towards his if-Willie-gets-hit-by-a-bus goal: to ensure the park’s future.



Carden is optimistic. He says it’s the best time he’s seen to get dependable funding from the city, and he feels the mayor is on his side: “Mayor Mallory believes in what we’re doing. He’s trying.” At the same time, Carden leaves nothing to chance. “I have to be creative,” he says. “I have to do things that most people would not think about. The effort I have to give, that the team has to give, is probably triple what other have to give. But people are starting to listen. They’re starting to get out and enjoy the parks.”