Photo by emilydickinson­ridesabmx on Flickr.

Do you have thoughts about how your local federally-controlled park could be better? Have you tried to organize any activities and run into a bureaucratic brick wall? Or does your park just not serve the needs of your community?

Chances are, if you live in DC, your local park is run by the National Park Service. It’s an agency that makes few efforts to reach out to local communities, but there’s a great opportunity this Saturday October 22, 1:30-3:00 pm at One Judiciary Square (441 4th Street, NW).

Eleanor Holmes Norton’s office is organizing the event. Unfortunately, it’s happening on a weekend when I’m out of town, and scheduled without much lead time for people to plan to attend. But it would be terrific to have many people from across DC share their experiences from working with NPS and their desires for how to better use DC parks to create a livable city, from the large ones like Rock Creek, the Mall, and Anacostia to the small neighborhood circles and squares.

If few people attend, NPS or Norton’s staff might erroneously conclude that there aren’t many resident issues or requests about parks. That’s not the case, but we can best demonstrate that fact by having a lot of folks attend.

If your suggestions or frustrations are with the DC Department of Parks and Recreation instead of NPS, you have an upcoming chance to voice them as well. Tommy Wells is holding an oversight roundtable on DPR, specifically its summer programs, but it’s a good opportunity to bring up your concerns to Wells and DPR officials.

That event is Tuesday, October 25, 11 am to 3 pm in Room 412 of the Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave, NW. To sign up to testify, email Tawanna Shuford at tshuford@dccouncil.us or 202-727-8204.

Are you planning to go to either? Post about what you plan to discuss in the comments.

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.