Jim Fisher, pictured, will be the new assistant director of parks, over administration effective June 1, 2015, according to an announcement by the Springfield-Greene County Park Board.
Fisher has spent more than 30 years in public parks administration, mostly in the Kansas City area, including park departments in Clay County; Independence; Smithville; Canton, Illinois; and Johnson County, Kansas Most recently, he served as the director for the Clay County Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Sites. Other job titles held during his career include superintendent of parks, parks and grounds manager, senior park manager, and park ranger. A Certified Park and Recreation Professional, he has been active in both the National Recreation and Park Association and the Missouri Park and Recreation Association throughout his career.
Jim has a vast amount of experience in parks administration, including serving as director of parks at both the city and county level, which is unique experience that fits us very well, given the park boards city-county affiliation, said Springfield Parks Director Bob Belote, Hes very familiar with park safety and security, he has supervised golf operations, and hes successfully developed and implemented parks sales tax initiatives. We had a fantastic candidate pool for this position, but Jim very quickly rose to the top.
Fisher fills a position left vacant by Belote when he was promoted to parks director in May 2012. The assistant director (administration) position oversees human resources, the golf division, park rangers, business operations, the Springfield Lasers, special facilities and Jordan Valley Park, as well the ongoing departmental accreditation process. Fisher joins fellow assistant directors Mike Crocker (zoo), Miles Park (operations) and Kim Reser (recreation).
After earning a BS in Natural Resources from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1981, Fisher earned a Law Enforcement Commission from the Police Academy of Johnson County, Kansas, in 1983. He attended NRPA Park Planning & Maintenance School from 1985-93 and 1997-99 and 2006-08 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He and his wife, Debbie, have four grown children. Go Back |
