What personal attributes, skills, or knowledge would you bring to the State Board of Directors if elected?
I am the Deputy Director of City of Glendale's Community Services and Parks Department. I am a CPRP, Certified Arborist, Certified Playgrounds Safety Inspector, and a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt recipient. I hold a dual Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Political Science and International Studies from University of CA, Irvine, and dual Masters Degrees in Public Administration and International Relations from University of Southern California. I have extensive experience in public administration, park operations, resource management, outreach, park planning and development, human resources, budgeting, strategic planning, contract negotiations, and organizational development. I currently lead a team of 49 full time professionals and 24-part time employees while directing the management, development, and operations of 46 park and recreation facilities, including historic homes and museums, a sports complex, a civic auditorium, a community pool, 20 sport fields, 33 tennis courts, a golf course (contracted operation) and over 5,000 acres of open space. I take pride in working for the public sector, specifically in community services, which has given me the opportunity to work on a number of complex and sophisticated issues and programs. From developing budgets, staff development, creating succession planning, project management, special events, programming, to creating key performance indicators, I have dealt with and been a part of some very challenging and exciting projects and programs. I have promoted professional development in my staff and am a recognized and respected leader in my current organization, as well as the industry.
Why have you chosen to run for the CPRS State Board of Directors?
Simple: I love this profession and wish to continue serving it at the next level. As a former D&O Board member that has served as Region rep, VP, Pres-Elect and President (2007-12 and then again in 2015-19), I understand the challenges faced by members of our great organization. My goal is to educate, train, and lead the future of our profession. In order to achieve this goal, I believe we need to understand the needs of our membership and get more members involved by providing the types of services and training most suitable to them. The more we educate, the faster we will grow… I truly believe that my involvement and training received though CPRS, D&O, and PSMMS, led my career path to Deputy Director. With about 20 years of municipal experience in varying capacity and leadership within CPRS over 15 years, I am convinced that my qualifications, education, experience, leadership, and training would help me serve / lead CPRS members on the State Board. I strive to share my experiences with our members.
What is the greatest challenge our profession faces and how will you lead to address that challenge?
In 2020, when I ran for State Board VP, I spoke of Covid-19 presenting the greatest challenge to the profession in decades, while realizing the resilience, courage and extraordinary leadership of CPRS members in keeping spirits alive, parks open / sanitized, developing new ways to deliver programs, and keeping the profession germane. Yet among the chaos, we found an opportunity to reaffirm the positive impact on the relevance of parks to the community. While the fiscal and social impacts of Covid continue to present a challenge, I find that recruiting for the future leadership of the profession is the greatest challenge at this time. As the baby boomers leave the playing field, and Generation X-ers on their last mile around the professional, it is incumbent on leadership to recruit, counsel, mentor, coach, train, and educate the next generation of leaders. Given my past experience in mentoring, coaching, sharing ideas with colleagues, and leading the profession, I believe I can play a critical role in exciting newcomers to the industry, look for ways to build on the new / innovated approaches to delivering our services, keeping costs reasonable, building partnerships, and encouraging membership participation across the state.