The unmistakable smell of change is dissipating in the air. After Noah Schwartz left as executive director of the Charlottesville Redevelopment Housing Authority, another position within the city has opened up.
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Mike Svetz is leaving Charlottesville for the spring training town of his beloved Cleveland Indians. |
Mike Svetz, Charlottesville’s director of Parks and Recreation, is leaving his post for a “great job” in Goodyear, Arizona—a suburb of Phoenix—as Parks and Recreation Department director.
“I wasn’t certainly looking for a job, and I am happy with my job here,” says Svetz. “It is for me a marriage of professional opportunity with an unbelievable personal interest.”
Svetz, who came to Charlottesville in 2004 from Ohio, is a confessed “die-hard” Cleveland Indians fan and has been one since he was 5 years old. As part of his duties in Goodyear, Svetz will manage the new spring training facilities for both the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds, who move spring operations there in 2010.
Svetz describes himself as “the type of kid who fell asleep with a transistor radio under my pillow listening to games. That has obviously carried on 35 years later.”
Despite his clear excitement, Svetz says it took him a “good month” before reaching his final decision. “I really do love this community, I love my staff and I love working here,” he says.
But Svetz is leaving behind several unresolved capital projects, including the much-debated YMCA facility. What impact Svetz’s departure will have on some of these projects is uncertain.
Bob Fenwick, a vehement opponent of reprogramming at McIntire because of the loss of two softball fields, says Svetz’s departure will not matter. Fenwick started a website, savemcintire.com, and is a member of the McIntire Park Preservation Committee, which is focused on reversing the city’s decision to open the park to the development of a YMCA.
“We wish Mr. Svetz well in his future endeavors,” says Fenwick. “If anybody says it’s all Mike’s fault, that is kind of irrelevant.” The McIntire master plan was adopted in May 2008 and calls for the transformation of two softball fields into a single, rectangular field.
For his part, Svetz remains hopeful that the changes can go forward. “I think at this point, the city and the county have taken all the steps necessary for the YMCA to be successful,” he says. He believes the biggest challenges the department will face are the same as the city as a whole: a $1.8 million deficit. During tough economic times, the department will have to make choices and prioritize services, programs and facilities, he says.
“The department is going at it in such a way that it provides high quality levels of service,” says Svetz. “It may be that we are going to scale back in terms of a small or slight reduction in operational hours of some of the facilities.”
Nonetheless, the department as a whole is in a good position to weather the storm. “There has been a lot of work done in the past five years to create an efficient staff, efficient delivery of services,” he says.
The process of finding Svetz’s replacement* is handled by City Manager Gary O’Connell, but city spokesman Ric Barrick says that “one thing that is great about Parks and Rec is that they are very structured. We are lucky to have a lot of folks that are really capable who can share the load in the meantime.”
UPDATE (1/20/09): City Manager Gary O’Connell has just appointed Brian Daly as Acting Director for the Department of Parks and Recreation effective January 22nd. The search for Svetz’s successor will begin in mid-May.
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