March 10, 2010
Melinda Pearson
Melinda Pearson began her duties as director of the City of Omaha Department of Parks, Recreation and Public Property last month. She brings 30 years of architectural experience and 15 years of experience managing her own business to the city. Pearson was instrumental in developing the Alexa Check initiative, a statewide public inspection process and public education campaign to improve the structural safety of park buildings statewide.
She took a few moments during her first weeks on the job to respond to five questions posed by Omaha by Design.
Describe your approach to the city’s top parks job – the rules you live by, your work philosophy.
I view my position as the department coordinator. While we have many talented staff members who are experts in their fields, it will be my job to speak for the department as a whole. One of my most important jobs is to get the staff the resources they need to do their jobs, including people, money and facilities. Regarding my work philosophy, it is really no different than my personal philosophy, which I learned from my grandmother – be kind, be patient and be brave.
How has your career prepared you for your new position?
While it may sound corny, I believe my entire career has prepared me for this. I’ve always loved being outdoors and enjoy a good adventure. I’ve been involved in the design of many parks and recreation areas, including small Nebraska ball fields, ski facilities in Aspen and a lodge in Yellowstone. I’ve worked with and inside city government, the state legislature and boards. I’ve volunteered for organizations my whole life from the YWCA to the national licensing board for engineers and architects. And probably the most important, I owned an architecture firm for 15 years that I started from my living room.
What are your priorities for the next 12 months?
Get on site to all of our parks and facilities. If I go to one park a day during the week, I will not be able to visit them all in a year. Add to that park maintenance buildings, park caretaker residences, park pavilions, recreation/community centers, swimming pools, tennis facilities, marinas, parking garages and golf facilities, I will keep very busy viewing our inventory. My primary goal is to make sure all of our facilities are clean, safe and accessible to the public and to make sure we have the resources we need.
What can individuals and citizen groups do to improve/contribute to the betterment of Omaha’s green spaces?
I’ll let you know. But one of the things I’m interested in is getting volunteers involved in many of our activities. I plan on hiring a part-time volunteer coordinator who will also work with us part-time to kick start the Omaha Parks Foundation.
Where would you like to see your department 10 years from now?
Beautiful, sustainable and busy parks and facilities that are at the heart of our community.
For more information about the parks department, visit www.cityofomaha.org/parks.