Sarasota hires parks and recreation director

The city is hiring from within to fill a newly created parks and recreation director position, tapping Robert L. Taylor Community Complex Manager Jerry Fogle to lead Sarasota’s recreation operations.

The new position is part of the city’s evolving parks philosophy. Although funding still remains a challenge, City Manager Tom Barwin and other officials have emphasized the need for more active recreation offerings and programming.

City officials have often cited the Robert L. Taylor center, which opened in 2011, as a model for the broader parks system to emulate. Barwin praised Fogle’s work overseeing that facility in a city press release today. 

“A significant part of the success of the Robert L. Taylor Community Complex is Jerry’s vision, compassion, and leadership with both operations and programming,” Barwin said.

The new title comes with an annual salary of $101,593. Fogle will continue to work out of the Robert L. Taylor center as he transitions into his role as parks and recreation director.

"I'm very grateful and humbled by this amazing opportunity to work closely with our residents to improve our parks and recreational services throughout our vibrant city,” Fogle said in the release.

City leaders have bemoaned the state of the city’s parks operations, which focuses largely on maintenance and eschews proactive capital investment. The city has not had a dedicated parks and recreation department since the 1980s, when it was eliminated for budgetary reasons.

A 2011 agreement with Sarasota County, which withdrew county funding from almost all city parks, created additional challenges for the city. Staff and citizens have discussed possible new funding sources, such as a parks conservatory or a dedicated parks and recreation taxing district.

In an earlier interview with the Sarasota Observer, Barwin suggested one of the duties of the parks and recreation director would be additional due diligence on increasing revenues to enhance the city’s parks offerings.

“It really needs a focal point and a leader and perhaps better organization,” Barwin said.