Sw Journal: Parks Superintendent Search Squeezed
By Scott Russell
Adding to the pressure: persistent Park Board divisions
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is behind schedule on its superintendent search and is trying to catch up.
Earlier this summer, the Park Board hired the Oldani Group to conduct the search. It is the same firm the city of Minneapolis used earlier this year to hire Police Chief William McManus.
Park Board President Jon Olson called the search schedule "a tight squeeze."
Mary Page, the Park Board's human resources director, is the staff point person on the search. The application deadline is Oct. 8. The Park Board expects to make a final decision by late November, with a Jan. 1 start date, she said.
The Park Board had planned to hold a mid-October public forum with finalists, Olson said. That will probably be pushed back since finalists won't be named by then.
Last year, the Park Board hired the Illinois Association of Park Districts to find potential replacements for retiring Supt. Mary Merrill Anderson. That search imploded when the two top candidates withdrew.
A thin five-of-nine Commissioner majority voted to hire Gurban to a one-year contract. Gurban had neither applied for, nor interviewed for, the job. Several in the four-Commissioner minority charged their colleagues with backroom deals. Some residents also sharply criticized the process.
Commissioner John Erwin, who did not vote for Gurban's contract, chaired the committee that created the new search process. The Park Board is three weeks behind its initial timeline, he said.
Andrea Battle Sims of the Oldani Group spoke to the Park Board Aug. 4. Her organization had already begun calling potential applicants, she said.
In the hot seat
Gurban's selection last December underscored deep Park Board divisions. The question now is, can a board marked by years of bad blood create something resembling consensus as it tries to choose a permanent leader?
Gurban will likely be a flash point.
The Park Board invited people to comment on the qualifications for the next superintendent. A dozen people spoke at the Aug. 4 board meeting. Dan Forby, a Jim Lupient Water Park board member, said he had "warm fuzzies" for the current Park Board leadership. However, former 10th Ward City Councilmember Lisa McDonald -- a potential 2005 Park Board candidate -- sent a strongly worded letter urging the Park Board to take Gurban off its list of potential candidates.
"Many qualified candidates would be deterred from spending the time and effort to apply if they knew there was an inside track candidate being considered who had served as interim superintendent for one year," wrote McDonald.
Several speakers echoed her comments.
Olson said in an interview McDonald's proposal was discriminatory. "Last time I checked, we are government," he said. "I thought it was illegal to prohibit people from applying for a job."
Commissioner Walt Dziedzic, who praised Gurban's work, said after the meeting he thought McDonald's letter was "terrible" and "just nasty."