PenMet suspends its director, gets a loaner from Metro Parks Tacoma

The troubled PenMet Parks district of Gig Harbor put its executive director on paid administrative leave last week and named an executive of Metro Parks Tacoma as his temporary replacement.

There was no immediate explanation for the removal of Doug Nelson, who has been on the job less than a year. He is the fourth executive director, permanent or temporary, to leave PenMet within two years.

The park board president, Maryellen (Missy) Hill issued a brief statement on Sunday.

“Doug Nelson is on paid administrative leave, and the Peninsula Metropolitan Park District Board of Commissioners cannot comment further as it is a personnel matter,” she said.

Nelson’s replacement, at least temporarily, will be Hunter George, chief administrative officer of the Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma. George, 52, is being “temporarily loaned” to PenMet under a loaned-executive agreement between the two park districts, he told the Gateway.

“We are going to try to calm things down and keep things going,” he said last Thursday, his first day on the job.

George is a former journalist who has worked for The Associated Press and The Tacoma News Tribune. He is also in his second term as mayor of Fircrest, where he lives.

George said he is being loaned to PenMet on a “75-25” split, meaning he will still spend about a quarter of his time at Metro Parks. The agreement is open-ended, he said, but both he and the district “agree that I can only do this so long.”

According to the agreement, George will continue on the Metro Parks payroll, and PenMet will reimburse the Tacoma district at the rate of $10,585 a month.

“Our administrative team is looking to the future as planning continues for improvements to Hales Pass Park and construction of the new Community Recreation Center,” Hill wrote on Sunday. “The Park Board has recently brought on two experienced professionals to ensure our projects stay the course.”

She was referring to George and to Ally Bujacich of Absher Construction, who is under a short-term contract as the interim CRC project manager.

Staff, board at odds

The change in leadership. made public Oct. 20, comes as the district has been roiled by disagreements between the staff and the park board over the planned Community Recreation Center, a $36 million project that will be district’s largest ever.

The park district paid $4.3 million in December 2019 for the former Performance Golf Center at 2416 14th Ave. NW, adjoining state Route 16 across from the Narrows Bridge toll plaza.

The project has been troubled almost from the start.

The board declined to extend a contract with the original architects, Gig Harbor-based Snodgrass & Freeman, in May, and a consulting firm, Parametrix of Tacoma, in August.

The project manager, Glenn Akramoff, resigned Sept. 17, citing “continued interference in daily operations and a total disregard for professional recommendations.”

Two weeks ago, the district hired Bujacich, a Gig Harbor construction consultant to take over the project on a 90-day contract. Bujacich is a project manager for Absher Construction Co.

George said he did not expect to be closely involved in the rec center project for a while, because he will be focused on prepared a budget for approval in December. But he said he did not expect the project to be delayed by the changeover.

“Ally is on top of that,” he said. “We’re in good hands with her.”

Dispute over architect

Akramoff had been the district’s acting executive director since March of 2019 and shifted to the CRC job after Nelson was hired in November 2019.

He has never publicly elaborated on his reasons for resigning, but people familiar with the situation said he objected to the board’s micromanagement of the project, in particular over the choice of architect.

According to people familiar with the dispute, three of the five commissioners, including Hill, thought the architectural design contract should go to a Denver firm, Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture (BRS), while district professionals rated another firm more qualified.

In the end, the winning architect, BLRB of Tacoma, agreed to accept the Denver firm as a subconsultant for the initial phase of the project.

Nelson, then 52, began his job as executive director for PenMet Parks on Dec. 9, 2019, after the board unanimously picked him from among four candidates. He had been involved in parks and recreation since 1991, most recently as a recreation and community center manager for the city of Federal Way. He has also worked for Metro Parks in Tacoma.

With a yearly budget of $7.5 million, the Peninsula Metropolitan Park District includes nine parks, a fishing pier, a popular community hall, and a much-used hiking trail. It serves Gig Harbor and the surrounding peninsula.

Reach Kerry Webster at editor@gateline.com

This story was originally published October 29, 2020 at 6:37 PM.