Parks and Trails Commission vacancy hard to find on City Website - deadline approaching

Deliver your Parks & Trails

Commission application

 to City Hall

The City has one opening on the Parks and Trails Commission that must be filled by a resident living outside Redmond’s city limits with a Redmond address.  The Mayor reviews your application and makes the appointment.  The Council approves the appointee.  If you are interested it might be a good idea to contact the Mayor's office to talk to a commissioner.  An excellent contact is Sue Stewart.  She is a candidate for City Council and was Chair of Parks and Trails for 6 years.   

The commission may be looking for someone familiar with trails outside the city ie. horse, hiking, biking, running. The Parks and Trails Commission members advise and make recommendations to the Mayor and City Council concerning acquisition, development and improvements to all park facilities.    They also make recommendations and provide input on recreational programming. The Commission meets on the first Thursday evening of the month at City Hall. All board and commission members are volunteers.

Applicants must complete a community service application. The deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday, August 26.  If you're looking for additional information on the Commission to prepare for the interview visit the new city website:  http://www.redmond.gov/.

The  new city website is challenging to navigate.  If you have trouble, I recommend you write the Office of the Mayor and City Ombudsman at:  mayorcouncil@redmond.gov.  To research this story, I visited the website Search engine and the A-Z Directory. It didn't work, so I emailed the Office of the Mayor and Council for help.  They responded: 

"Bob, if you look at the top of the website and click on Residents, then click down to Volunteer Opportunities and then click to Boards and Commissions, you will see the notice for the opening on the Parks and Trails Commission"    --Talley Hudson, Office of the Mayor

"The press release [link to the job description] was a bit challenging to find, so I've copied it below for your to share with your friend"  

-- Hank Margeson, Ombudsman, City Councilmember

I stumbled on the application on a separate page.  It's unfortunate important commission openings are so hard to find and research.  Those "on the inside" appear to have the advantage.  I'm hoping a Council candidate will address some of these problems in their campaign.

Opinion By Bob Yoder   

Internet photo