Jun 26, 2008

Parks director to retire in December

By Mark Abramson / Daily News Staff Writer

Though San Carlos Parks and Recreation Director Barry Weiss has announced he'll retire Dec. 30 after eight years on the job, city officials won't be rushing to replace him.

Weiss, 59, plans to retire in Pleasanton with his wife, Ana, and other family members, including a 7-month-old grandson. The San Carlos resident has been in the profession since 1983 and was once recreation superintendent for Palo Alto.

City officials want to call a joint meeting between the city council and parks and recreation commission to discuss the department's future structure, possibly within the next month.

They have credited Weiss with a long list of accomplishments, including establishing the Alternative Funding Program, which seeks private donations to supplement its tax revenue. The program gave birth to the Parks and Recreation Foundation, which grants naming rights to parks and recreation property in exchange for money. The foundation helped raise $350,000 for the playground renovations at Burton Park.

Weiss said the playground project is an example of his goal to make 70 percent of all playground equipment in the city accessible to disabled children.

"I'm most proud of the staff I worked with. It really is an outstanding group of people," Weiss said.

"I have also been given the ability to be creative by (two city managers in the eight years)," he added.

"(Weiss) has been an innovator and somebody who has really gotten the community excited about parks and recreation," Assistant City Manager Brian Moura said. "He is pumped, and he is having fun, and he is creating community, as he would say."

Weiss also is credited with producing a vegetable garden and vending machines packed with healthy foods at the city's youth center. And at Burton Park he led the charge to put in a walking course with markers that let people track how far they have gone. He also came up with a plan to spruce up Arguello Park and restore its ball fields.

In addition to dealing with budget shortfalls in recent years, Weiss weathered some controversy recently when he urged the city council to approve artificial turf at Highlands Park.

Weiss' boss, City Manager Mark Weiss, said he wants to wait until after the joint council-parks commission meeting before initiating a replacement search.

Council Member Matt Grocott said he's willing to wait even longer so the city could use some of the money earmarked for the new parks director's salary and benefits to reduce budget cuts. The money saved could keep tennis court lights on at night, something the San Carlos Tennis Club is fighting for, Grocott said.

Among other things, Grocott said he is looking into whether user fees should be charged to pay for tennis court night lights, for some adult sports programs facing elimination and for a program that provides food for seniors. After such fees are established, a parks and recreation director who knows how to manage those programs could be hired, Grocott said.

"I don't see the hiring of a replacement as being all that critical, frankly," Grocott said. "We got some talented staff who back up Mr. Weiss. No disrespect to him; he does a good job."

A new parks and recreation director would face several challenges, including how to implement a parks and recreation master plan once it's completed and raise money for new facilities, Moura said.



E-mail Mark Abramson at mabramson@dailynewsgroup.com.