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City of Seattle
Gregory J. Nickels, Mayor
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NEWS ADVISORY
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| SUBJECT: Seattle Parks Superintendent to Retire in February 2007
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
12/5/2006 2:00:00 PM |
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Office of the Mayor (206) 684-4000
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Seattle Parks Superintendent to Retire in February 2007
Mayor praises Ken Bounds for his dedication &
33 years of public service
SEATTLE - Mayor Greg Nickels announced today that Ken Bounds, Seattle Parks
and Recreation superintendent since 1996, will retire at the end of February
2007 after 33 years of public service, 31 of them with the city of Seattle.
“Ken has had a remarkable career and will leave a big hole to fill,” Nickels
said. “I have met very few people with Ken’s dedication to public
service and the skills to get things done over so long a period of time. In
particular, the $200 million Pro Parks Levy, which leaves a massive legacy
of new parks and open spaces for future generations, would never have happened
without Ken’s leadership. On behalf of a grateful city, I thank him.”
Bounds’ leadership has led to the passage and/or implementation of
four voter-approved funding measures, plus tens of millions of dollars in
other capital projects:
- The 1989 $43 million Open Space Bond Issue, which leveraged $57 million
more;
- The 1991 $50 million Community Centers Levy;
- The 1985 $31 million Zoo Bond Issue, which leveraged an additional $24
million;
- The 1999 $36 million Community Centers Levy; and
- The 2000 $200 million Pro Parks Levy, which to date has leveraged
$7 million.
Bounds has led Parks and Recreation into partnerships that bring great financial
and community benefits to the public, including those with Seattle public schools,
universities, utilities, businesses, environmental organizations, and community
organizations, and deliver the best possible park and recreation services to
the people of Seattle.
“It has been an incredible honor to serve as Parks Superintendent for
the past ten-plus years,” Bounds said. “I have been blessed to
work with a passionate, involved citizenry and a committed, enthusiastic, professional
staff who daily make Seattle’s park system one of the nation’s
best.”
Mayor Nickels will announce a search for a new Parks Superintendent soon.
Bounds grew up in Ft. Worth, Texas. He began his public service with the city
of Cleveland, Ohio, as an urban planner, after graduating from Baylor University
in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science,
and two years of work toward a master’s degree in urban planning at the
University of Iowa.
He began work in Seattle in 1976 at the Office of Policy and Planning, the
city’s central planning office at the time. He moved to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) in 1981, where then-Mayor Charles Royer appointed
him budget director in 1989. At OMB Bounds managed two budget cycles and oversaw
the creation of the department of neighborhoods and the neighborhood matching
fund.
Bounds moved to Parks and Recreation in 1990 as deputy superintendent, and
was appointed superintendent in 1996. Nickels reappointed him in 2002. Bounds’ broad
civic, planning, and budget experience gave him a comprehensive understanding
and keen vision for managing a large, complex urban park system that is many
things to many people.
Surrounding himself with a host of dedicated professionals in recreation,
environmental management, finance, project development, and customer service,
Bounds has effectively managed a growing system of 26 community centers, 10
swimming pools, 6,200 acres of park land comprising 400-plus parks (11 percent
of the city’s total land area), four environmental learning centers,
two boating centers, an indoor tennis center, and much more.
He oversaw an annual budget of $117 million in 2006, and a staff of 1,000
that swells to 1,500 in the summer.
Among his civic leadership roles are memberships on the boards of directors
of the City Park Alliance, the Mountains to Sound Greenway, and ex-officio
for the Seattle Art Museum, the Seattle Aquarium Society, and the Woodland
Park Zoo Society. Bounds also serves on the leadership committee for the Green
Seattle Partnership. Bounds won the National Recreation and Parks Association
Rose Award for management in 2001.
Visit the mayor’s Web site at www.seattle.gov/mayor. Get the mayor’s
inside view on initiatives to promote transportation, public safety, economic
opportunity and healthy communities by signing up for The Nickels Newsletter
at www.seattle.gov/mayor/newsletter_signup.htm
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Office of the Mayor
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