Live / Shared Spaces, Shared Futures: Increasing Park Access Through School Joint-Use Agreements

Michael Shull graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering and is currently a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of California. Immediately following graduation, he began his career with the City of Los Angeles, Department of Public Works, Bureau of Engineering.

At Public Works, he served as one of the City’s Engineers, immersing himself in the project management of many large City capital projects. Various projects centered on the Department of Recreation and Parks, where his knowledge and interest expanded with the challenges the City’s park system faced.

In 2005, he joined the City’s Recreation and Parks team as the head of the Planning Division and worked on innovative design approaches to improve existing parks and increase access to open space. Guiding the development of several major Department facility assessment reports and parks initiatives, including the 2006 Pool Assessment Report, the 2009 Citywide Community Needs Assessment, the Department’s Water Conservation Plan, and the Department’s 2019 Five Year Strategic Plan.

Since 2005, the Department has added 74 new parks and expanded 14 others, adding nearly 700 acres of land while reducing potable water usage by approximately 50%. Mr. Shull implemented equity-based strategies and goals in both achieving gender parity while doubling youth participation in many recreation programs.  Program data and technology played a significant role in support of those strategies for funding and resource requests, which culminated in a $160M funding agreement with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games to subsidize youth sports and fitness programs, removing cost barriers for participation in the City of Los Angeles lower-income areas.

In 2013, Mr. Shull was appointed as General Manager of the Department of Recreation and Parks by Mayor Eric Garcetti. As the General Manager, Mr. Shull oversaw more than 500 City Park properties on over 16,000 acres of land, and 1500 full-time employees, and managed an operating budget of approximately $275 million.

Assets included 60 swimming pools, 123 recreation centers, 13 golf courses, 30 senior centers, 300 tennis courts, 350 basketball courts, 25 skate parks, and hundreds of athletic fields. The Department’s operations serve more than 100,000 youth participants in recreation sports and fitness programs throughout the City with a prioritized equity approach.

Mr. Shull is most proud of managing the Department during some of the City’s most challenging fiscal years while expanding park access, adding many new park amenities, increasing capital and resource investment in low-income communities, achieving gender equity, growing recreational programs, restoring critical operation position authorities and providing critical emergency response during the pandemic where Recreation and Parks staff provided vital resources to the unhoused community and places for safe learning for children while local schools were closed.

Mr. Shull retired after 32 years of service for the City of Los Angeles in July of 2022 but continues to consult and volunteer his time as an active board member of the City Parks Alliance and Los Angeles Parks Foundation.