Stark Parks board to interview 5 candidates for park director job
Five candidates will be interviewed this week for the Stark Parks director position.
Of the five, three live in or work in Stark County.
They are Jeanne Gural, executive director of the Wilderness Center near Wilmot; Derek Gordon, director of special projects for the Stark County District Library who was the Canton Parks director prior to 2018; and Canton City Engineer Dan Moeglin.
The other candidate in Ohio is Isaac Smith, planning and operations manager for the Medina County Park District. The fifth candidate, Steven Gayfield, is the executive director of Sulphur Parks and Recreation in Sulphur, Louisiana.
More: Cost estimate for Fulton tunnel project skyrockets 47%
More: Bob Fonte to retire as director of Stark Parks
Stark Parks board Chairwoman Denise Freeland released the names in an email Friday.
She wrote that the board will interview the five in a closed-door session Wednesday morning. The interviews will take place in the conference room of law firm Baker Dublikar in North Canton. Firm founder Ralph Dublikar is one of the five members of the Stark Parks board.
Current director to retire
The current Stark County Parks District director is Bob Fonte, who's held the job since 1995. He is set to retire May 2. Fonte has said he will take no part in vetting or selecting his successor except for answering any questions the person may have.
Like Fonte, Moeglin has a background in civil engineering. Moeglin did not list as experience any job working for a public parks department. However, Moeglin in his cover letter cited his role as Canton city engineer being the "driving force behind the creation of parks and nature reserves." He wrote that he had built trail systems, shelters and park restrooms and was "fluent in the funding of park projects."
According to his application and LinkedIn profile, Gayfield was the superintendent of parks and recreation in Lancaster, Ohio, from 2012 to 2015 and the park facilities manager in Mason, Ohio, from 2002 to 2012.
Freeland said after the board interviews the five candidates, it will call back an undetermined number for a second interview before the board selects a new director.
Vetting
The Ohio Parks and Recreation Association advertised the position and vetted the applications for Stark Parks for a $16,000 fee. The Stark Parks board said the association received 20 applications and found 15 candidates to be qualified. The board then narrowed the list of applicants to five to be interviewed.
Of the 20 applicants, at least 14 had government experience, according to applications obtained Friday through a public records request. At least one was a retired local city and township administrator. Twelve are supervisors or officials for a public park system, and 14 applicants had public park department experience. Eight live in Stark County, seven live in Ohio outside Stark County and five applicants live outside Ohio.
One applicant was a Stark Parks employee, and one was a former Stark Parks employee. Neither advanced to the interview stage.
Reach Repository writer Robert Wang at (330) 580-8327 or robert.wang@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @rwangREP.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Five candidates to be interviewed for Stark Parks director's job
