Boulder County Parks & Open Space Director Public Survey

To ensure the recruitment for our new Parks & Open Space Director is a success, we are seeking your feedback. This short survey is designed to collect information to help us identify the unique and important characteristics necessary for this position. Your responses will be confidential.

You’ll notice that some of the questions ask you to check just five boxes from amongst many other options. We understand making these choices may be challenging, however our goal is to prioritize the guidelines for the position in order to ensure expectations are realistic and that the aspects the public believes are most important are included where possible. Those questions are marked with an asterisk.

Question Title

* 1. Where do you live?

Boulder

Broomfield

Denver

Erie

Gold Hill

Lafayette

Longmont

Louisville

Lyons

Nederland

Niwot

Superior

Unincorporated Boulder County

Ward

Outside Colorado

None of these, but in Colorado

Question Title

* 2. What is your primary activity on Boulder County Parks & Open Space? (Choose one)

Bike/E-bike

Fish

Family gathering

Hike

Photography/Art

Picnic

Ride a horse

Run

View wildlife

Walk the dog

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 3. In addition to recreational activities described in Question 2 above, my strongest connection to Boulder County Open Space is as a/n: (Choose one)

Fairgrounds user

Farmer: conventional

Farmer: organic

General environmentalist

Historic Preservation advocate

Naturalist

Rancher

Volunteer

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 4. What is your race?

American Indian or Alaska Native

Asian or Asian American

Black or African American

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

White or Caucasian

Two or More Races

Question Title

* 5. Are you of Hispanic, Latinx, or other Spanish origin?

Yes

Question Title

* 6. What are the five most critical challenges for the department going forward (check five boxes)?

Acquisition, restoration, management and conservation of native grassland properties including sustainable accommodation of prairie dog populations

Agricultural land management including use of regenerative agriculture

Balancing new acquisitions and maintenance of existing parks

Balancing public access/recreation and resource protection and agriculture

Broadening mission to support community health through enjoyment of open space

Budgeting and capacity planning for management, maintenance, infrastructure of POS lands and programs

Building strong relationships with agricultural community

Change Management/transition management/disaster fatigue and addressing the growing pains of the department

Climate change and protecting resources and wildlife

Coalescing the department around shared mission, vision and goals and implementing the strategic plan

Developing a culture of safety

Finding the balance between organic farming and conventional farming and managing the GMO transition plan

Forest management policies to promote health and resiliency, including fire aftermath

Implementing the Cultural Responsiveness & Inclusion Strategic Plan (CRISP) and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion

Increased public use of open space lands and strains on system

Protecting water rights

Restarting and completing Fairgrounds Master Plan

Staff morale and building a cohesive team

Succession planning for aging farmers and developing plans to allow new farmers to lease assembled parcels

Succession planning for staff

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 7. What are the five most important skills/abilities essential to the success of the new Director (check five boxes):

Ability to delegate and lead others; trusts and respects staff professional expertise and ability to manage passionate experts with strong opinions

Ability to set a clear vision and strategic discipline for the department and help staff understand their role in achieving the vision

Ability to set priorities and discern what needs to be addressed at director level

Background in resource management or management of public lands

Bilingual, multicultural, and cross-cultural communication skills

Collaborative leadership experience and success; team builder

Commitment to racial equity and experience with racial equity work

Commitment to the mission of the open space program and understanding of its history

Community engagement experience and success working with a variety of stakeholders

Comprehensive large budget experience; profit and loss responsibility

Excellent communication skills including public speaking, writing, listening, persuasion, and facilitation

Experience managing a large, complex department with diverse programs

Experience using data for assessment and decision making

Independent thought and ability to challenge staff to think creatively for the future

Management abilities including making hard decisions, holding self and others accountable

Political skills, acumen, and ability to withstand political heat and serve multiple leaders

Understanding of Boulder County dynamics and local issues

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 8. What are the five most important personal attributes that the new Director should possess to create positive momentum for you, your, team and the organization (check five boxes)?

Calm

Collaborative

Commitment to job and the staff

Empathetic/understanding/compassionate

Enjoys interaction with staff at all levels

Flexibility and ability to deal with ambiguity

Follows through, consistent, dependable

Generous spirit and extends grace to others

Humility

Innovative

Inspiring, motivating

Leader who recognizes this is a very difficult job, with a challenging political terrain

Managed risk taker, not afraid to make mistakes

Open/inclusive/welcoming/approachable

Passion/enthusiasm for POS work, environment, and best in public service

Positive mindset

Professionalism

Resilient/thick skin/able to manage challenging political terrain

Respect and gratitude for staff

Respectful and command respect

Sense of humor, good natured

Thoughtful and considerate

Transparent

Trustworthy/integrity

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 9. What are five characteristics that, if the new director had them, would be most challenging to his or her success in the position (check five boxes)?

Control and command hierarchical management style

Does not understand the history of the department and its role and value in county's strategic priorities

Doesn't understand the passionate community

Inability to build teams bringing together diverse perspectives toward common goal

Inflexibility

Lack of experience in the field

Lack of experience working with diverse communities and cross-cultural communications

Lack of experience working within or with government agencies

Lack of understanding of equity and access issues

Little or no experience managing large parks, and/or large work groups with competing missions

Micromanager

Not having a vision for the program

Overzealous or ideologue

Single topic activist (e.g. animal rights, specific recreational use)

Someone who cannot represent all forms of agriculture; organic, conventional, grazing

Someone who will place limits on grazing opportunities and farming opportunities

Someone with experience in high political positions who lacks management experience

Unable to make difficult decisions and support staff when decisions don't go their way

Uncomfortable with outreach and engagement

Underestimates the full scope of the job and commitment required

Wants to please everyone all the time

Other (please specify)