3 Candidates For Mpls. Parks Chief Make Their Cases
The following article by Steve Brandt was published in the Star Tribune on October 7, 2010.
3 candidates for Mpls. parks chief make their cases
The Minneapolis Park Board could pick the city's 11th superintendent from among the finalists next week.
Minneapolis park commissioners got a chance Wednesday to quiz the three park professionals vying to become the 11th superintendent of city parks, a choice the Park and Recreation Board may make next Wednesday.
Commissioners asked the trio about their experience in raising non-tax revenue for parks, in sustainability and racially diverse populations, in measuring progress toward strategies, and in working with elected boards.
Jayne Miller, 52, met the biggest question about her head-on, describing why she quit last month as head of the five-county Metroparks system outside Detroit after only six months.
"I made the decision it wasn't a good fit," she said, contending that the board that hired her ultimately wasn't willing to make the organizational changes needed to meet financial cutbacks that she was told she was hired to address.
Miller emphasized the breadth of experience she had in Ann Arbor, Mich., where she worked in community development and subsidized housing before rising through the ranks to ultimately head the park system. She said she bought park land, preserved farm land and ran a system with 157 parks. She said she wants the Minneapolis job in part because the city shares the progressive values of Ann Arbor.
Stanley Motley, 64, brought the longest resume of experience heading large park systems, with 38 years in the field. He said he left his most recent job heading parks in the unincorporated areas outside Atlanta because a shrinking real estate market left him without the resources to build new programs and more parks.
Motley said he sensed uneasiness among Minneapolis park staff about whether last month's layoffs, which eliminated 21 positions for an annual savings of $1.3 million, will continue. He said he would take 90 days to analyze the system before planning and communicating needed changes.
Stephen Rymer, 41, who heads parks and emergency services in Morgan Hill, Calif., said he's improved access to recreation in two communities while decreasing reliance on property taxes. The Robbinsdale native also headed parks in New Brighton. He emphasized his background in measuring the environmental and financial sustainability of park investments.
The board will need to decide if Rymer is experienced enough to make the leap from heading parks in a city of 40,000 to a city nearly 10 times that size.
The new parks chief will succeed Jon Gurban, whose contract the board decided last January not to renew. David Fisher, who headed the system for 18 years, has served as interim superintendent.