Parks Tacoma has a new interim executive director, third leader in last month
Parks Tacoma has a new interim executive director, the third person to lead the agency since the end of April.
At a meeting on May 11, Parks Tacoma board members voted unanimously to select Tony Piasecki, who served as the city manager for Des Moines for nearly 15 years, to do the job. Piasecki is replacing Gwen Voelpel, who served as Parks Tacoma’s interim executive director since April 29 after director Shon Sylvia resigned in the wake of concerns about the agency’s budget deficit.
Voelpel was promoted to the interim post after serving as director of business administration and planning since March, a job she was supposed to do in a part-time capacity starting May 8, The News Tribune reported. Voelpel, who has to attend to a family matter, will work for Parks Tacoma on a part-time basis to assist with Piasecki’s transition, according to a news release from the agency.
Piasecki comes to the role as Parks Tacoma faces a $9 million budget deficit. The agency first reported a $7 million budget deficit last fall and implemented an array of cuts to address the gap. This spring Parks Tacoma began to sound the alarm of an additional budget deficit, bringing the total now to $9 million.
“He’s a strong choice for where we’re at today,” Park Board president Matt Mauer said of Piasecki in the release. “He will help us stabilize district finances and provide the steady leadership we need while we recruit for the next executive director.”
Parks Tacoma is working to develop an amendment to its 2025-2026 budget which the board will approve in June. Mauer said at the May 11 board meeting that the agency likely will begin implementing cuts by the end of May before approving a budget amendment to capture savings from the cuts as soon as possible.
The deficit is the result of a variety of reasons, including “faulty” revenue projects in the 2025-2026 budget. Sylvia resigned the day after voters approved a $155 million bond measure for capital projects — which is separate from the operating budget, where the $9 million deficit lives. Sylvia resigned with a payout of over $500,000.
Cuts at Parks Tacoma could affect beloved free and reduced childcare programs like Beyond the Bell and Teen Late Nights, parks staff have said. The agency will host a public hearing on the budget amendment outlining those cuts on May 18.
