The Collinsville Area Recreation District Board of Commissioners named Susan Zaber as the new executive director at its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday.
Susan Zaber was named the CARD executive director on July 15 / Photo by Dominic Baima
Zaber had served as the interim executive director since March 10. She came to CARD in Jan. 2011 after serving 15 years as a human resources and operations professional for places such as Washington University, Spectrum Healthcare Resources and Corporate Fitness Works.
When Zaber joined CARD, originally as an administrative assistant, the intention was to have a less stressful job, she said. Those plans changed a year after she joined the financially troubled parks and recreation district.
Zaber took on some human resources, liabilities and claims work after two jobs were eliminated in 2012. When Terry Wilson resigned as Executive Director on March 6, and she was appointed interim executive director, she took on much more responsibility.
Zaber’s strong management, communication and finance skills made her the right person for the job, former Board of Commissioners President Dave Tanzyus said. The Board voted 5-0 in favor if hiring Zaber.
Calling her time as interim director an extensive on-the-job-interview, Tanzyus said CARD did not need to advertise for the full-time executive director position. The board did not seek or consider anyone else for the position, Tanzyus confirmed.
“The last time we went through a really long, drawn-out process because we really didn’t have anybody in house,” Tanzyus said.
Following Mark Badasch’s resignation, Rick Robbins, who had been the superintendent of recreation, served as the interim director from December 2011 to June 2012, when Wilson was hired.
“The last time, no one was convinced he was ready,” Tanzyus said.
Robbins is now the executive director at the Bensenville Park District.
Although Zaber had no prior parks and recreation experience prior to becoming the administrative assistant for the executive director in 2011, both Tanzyus and Zaber said a combination of her skill set and the existing CARD personnel make her the right person for the job.
Superintendent of Parks Kevin Brown has served in that position at CARD for almost 17 years. Although no permanent replacement has been named for Karl Schmidt, who resigned as the Splash City aquatics supervisor in May, Tanzyus said the new person will be relied upon to provide expertise to Zaber.
“We don’t need a specialist at the top, we need a manager at the top,” Tanzyus said. “We need someone who knows the numbers.”
Tanzyus said Zabers’ human resource experience in smaller companies provided her experience with financial reporting.
The senior staff at CARD will provide the expertise needed to assist her, Zaber said. The fact that she does not have extensive parks and recreation experience is not an issue.
“It will definitely be a learning curve, but it is not a huge concern because of the people we have,” Zaber said. “If I didn’t have that, I don’t think I would have been considered.”
Her biggest challenge as executive director, Zaber said, will be fund generation. Four of the five commissioners publicly supported three referendums in 2013 that reduced CARD’s operating budget by as much as 25 percent. The referendums were overwhelmingly passed by voters.
Getting funding back into the recreation fund for operations is a primary concern, Zaber said. She hopes to accomplish this, in part, by updating outdated agreements with groups, committees and leagues, including looking at the prices charged for use of CARD managed facilities.
Zaber will also focus on the administrative tasks of improving – and at times creating – processes and procedures in place for daily operations.
A replacement executive assistant will be hired, Zaber said. Tanzyus hopes to have a new Splash City Aquatics supervisor in place after the season, he said. A part time recreation coordinator has replaced what was a full-time position. If funding can be generated, Zaber hopes the position will again be full time by the end of the fiscal year on April 30, 2015.
There are no plans to replace the marketing and communications coordinator, Zaber said. The daily responsibilities have been divided among staff and she is considering speaking with a consultant to set a strategic marketing direction, with the daily management of the plan handled by existing staff.
Although Zaber accepted the position, the contract details have not yet been finalized. Zaber believes that will be completed by the end of next week.
In other business at the meeting Tuesday, Patrick Collins replaced Tanzyus as Board president. Tanzyus will become the vice president. Rotating the role of president is something the board had been discussing for some time, Tanzyus said.
