Park department director resigns

For the fourth time in two years, the Spokane Parks Department is under new leadership.

Barry Russell, who started work as the city’s parks director in May 2008, resigned Tuesday.

City Councilman Bob Apple, who serves on the Spokane Park Board, said that Russell was a good leader for the park system but that there was friction “between Barry and the administration.”

“Everything was moving along and getting done,” Apple said. “I would love to find out what the problem was.”

The announcement was made in a city news release. Attempts made to reach Russell on Tuesday afternoon were unsuccessful.

Spokane Park Board members said they were surprised by the announcement.

“His dedication to the parks was very, very strong,” Park Board President Gary Lawton said.

Mayor Mary Verner named Planning Director Leroy Eadie as the interim parks director. Neighborhood Planning Manager Jo Anne Wright was named by the mayor as interim planning director.

“Leroy has a proven track record in working with board and commissions and I think that that experience is going to serve us well,” said City Administrator Ted Danek.

Danek said he had no comment on the specifics of Russell’s departure but stressed he was not accused of any wrongdoing.

“He was a hard worker and he really cared about parks,” Danek said.

Verner fired the previous director, Mike Stone, at the end of 2007. She hired former City Manager Roger Crum to manage the department between Stone and Russell’s tenure.

Before coming to Spokane, Russell was the assistant parks director for land management for El Paso, Texas.

When he was hired in Spokane, Russell’s staring salary was $97,280 a year.

The park department has been faced with several high-profile issues in the past 18 months.

During Russell’s tenure park officials ended the city’s longtime policy of free swimming for kids, created a new smoking policy and have worked to find funding for the city’s purchase of the former downtown YMCA surrounded by Riverfront Park.

The decision to buy the property was made before Russell’s hiring, but the issue has created significant tension between the park board and City Council in the past several months.

Eadie said he’s interested in the job on a permanent basis, but also would be happy to return to planning.

“I’d like to compete for the position if we did a national search and I was able to show some success in the position,” Eadie said.