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List of candidates for Mill Creek MetroParks executive director position down to three
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mill Creek MetroParks commissioners have narrowed their list of candidates for executive director to three, board president Lou Schiavoni said.
Aaron Young, Anthony Trevena and Justin Rogers still are in the running to lead the MetroParks, out of the 20 candidates who applied for the job.
Commissioners will conduct another round of interviews of the three finalists in an executive-session meeting Saturday.
The board likely will vote to approve one of them at Monday’s public meeting, Schiavoni said. The meeting is at 6 p.m. at Fellows Riverside Gardens, 123 McKinley Ave.
“It could be that if these people don’t pan out, we might have to go back through the interview process. But I feel pretty confident that one of these people is going to be the new director,” Schiavoni said.
Young is the director of planning and operations for the Geauga Park District. He has been in the position since 2005, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Trevena previously worked for ex-Gov. Ted Strickland in various capacities, served as deputy director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and was ex-U.S. Rep. John Boccieri’s chief of staff.
Rogers has spent his entire career at Mill Creek MetroParks. He worked as an intern while he was in college, then became the park’s planning manager in 2002, and currently has that job.
There is no front-runner for the position out of the three finalists, Schiavoni said.
Several groups have weighed in on the board’s choice of a candidate.
The Mill Creek MetroParks Foundation urged the board at a meeting Nov. 10 to select a director who will stay in the position for a long time, and who has extensive parks and recreation experience.
Save the Wildlife of Mill Creek Park, a group formed in response to the park’s euthanasia in June of 238 geese, has urged the board to choose a candidate who is more environmentally conscious.
“We want someone who has more of an environmental focus,” said Gina Centofanti, a member of the group. “We feel that there can be a balance between preserving the natural beauty of the park and expanding it for human use.”
The Guardians of Mill Creek Park, an advocacy group, has called for more public input in the selection process and for a director who does not support fracking.
The new director will take over for current director Dennis Miller after the board negotiates a contract with its choice, Schiavoni said.
Miller is leaving the position at year’s end to take over as golf director at the Lake Club in Poland, a move he announced to the board at the end of September.
Another change to the MetroParks’ staff will be a new full-time natural resources manager after Kirsten Peetz’s move in October from full-time to part-time.
The park administration is accepting applications for the position through the end of today, with a decision expected early next year, planning and natural-resources director Steve Avery said.