Resigning Parks Tacoma director to receive a half million dollar payout
Shon Sylvia, who resigned from his post as Parks Tacoma’s executive director Wednesday, will receive a $538,000 payout, according to the agency.
Spokesperson Stacia Glenn said Sylvia will receive $271,430, the equivalent of one year’s salary, and an additional $266,570 as payout for his unused vacation and sick time, per the requirements in his employment contract. Sylvia’s contract requires that he receive 60 days of advanced notice in the event that he is terminated without cause, and as a result he will serve as a “special adviser” for Parks Tacoma from the date of his resignation until the end of June. Glenn said he’ll receive $49,572 in compensation for those two months.
Sylvia’s resignation comes as the agency contends with a total $7 million budget deficit that it needs to mitigate for its 2025-2026 budget. Parks Tacoma already implemented an array of layoffs and cuts and has warned of more to come over the next few months.
Sylvia’s departure has raised questions about whether the Parks Tacoma board maintained sufficient oversight over his performance in the nearly 10 years he served as executive director. Parks Tacoma policy requires that the executive director undergo annual performance evaluations, but Sylvia underwent only three since he became executive director in January 2017, according to records obtained by The News Tribune.
Evaluations of his work in 2017, 2020 and 2022 largely contain positive reviews and comments on his work. Occasionally they hinted atm and at times stated directly, that Sylvia could improve his communication with the agency’s board, but the board gave Sylvia a raise after the 2020 and 2022 evaluations.
“Board members are in the dark too often,” former board president Erik Hanberg wrote in the evaluation for Sylvia’s work in 2020.
“I want to support Metro Parks leadership,” Hanberg continued, referring to the agency by its name prior to a $116,000 rebranding effort in 2025. “But my obligation is not to the park district but to the public. And the public is not being served if their elected leaders are in the dark about the most pressing issues.”
In response to a question about areas in which Sylvia could have improved in 2020, another board member wrote that “there was a time when the [executive director] could have gotten a better haircut.”
Sylvia’s email to parks staff announcing his resignation and a news release from the agency with the same news did not state a reason for his departure. Parks Tacoma Board president Matt Mauer told The News Tribune that the board asked Sylvia to step down.
“The board felt, given the ongoing budget issues, it was time for new leadership,” Mauer said.
“The leader of an organization is ultimately responsible for what happens within that organization,” he added. “I’m not going to lay full blame on anybody. But the board has the ability to hire and fire one person – that’s the executive director. And we felt it was time to move in a different direction.”
Mauer, who joined the board in 2024, said the board didn’t do the annual performance reviews it was required to do because it was contending with turmoil following the departure of several board members in recent years. The board was in the midst of a performance review for Sylvia’s work in 2025 prior to his resignation.
“We lost three members within a month of each other, one of which passed away, Tim Reid, and there was a gap in us giving Shon reviews,” he said.
The board met for a regularly scheduled meeting on April 27, and at that meeting went into a closed executive session to discuss “for the purpose of reviewing the performance of a public employee,” the meeting agenda states. Mauer said he couldn’t disclose what the group discussed , but spokesperson Stacia Glenn said Gwen Voelpel, who is currently serving as interim executive director, was informed of Sylvia’s pending resignation the following morning.
That was the same day of the special election for a $155 million bond measure that the agency put on the ballot to fund replacement and redevelopment projects.
Less than 24 hours after the bond measure passed, Sylvia announced his resignation.
“Moments like this – when the community so strongly affirms its belief in us – make the timing feel right, as I reflect on all we’ve accomplished together and look ahead with a sense of pride and possibility,” he wrote in his email to parks staff.
