The Josephine County Board of Commissioners formally consolidated the Parks Department and Fairgrounds Department into the new Recreation Department at their Feb. 22 weekly business session, held at Anne G. Basker Auditorium in Grants Pass.
“We have traditionally had a Parks Department and a Fairgrounds Department,” explained Board Chair Herman Baertschiger. “We are merging them into one department. We’ll have one director under both of them and we will change the name to the Recreation Department.”
Tamra Martin, who previously served as the Fairgrounds director before being promoted to Josephine County’s first Recreation director, commented on her department’s official inception.
She was happy the commissioners were “streamlining” her operations because “operating both departments independently has been a bit of a challenge only because we have multiple employees that are working within both departments. So there are some challenges with coding and getting everyone back and forth. So by actually taking a step and merging the two departments together, it streamlines it not only for the public and understanding what we’re attempting to do here, but for our employees and the organization of the staff.”
Baertschiger assured Martin that a future board order would get the funding mechanism for the new Recreation Department “straightened out.”
Below find the text of the board order forming the Recreation Department:
“WHEREAS, pursuant to the Josephine County Charter, Chapter V, Section 18, the Board of Commissioners has authority to prescribe the structure of the administrative branch of county government, and may establish, reorganize and unify administrative departments and prescribe their functions and the functions of offices and positions within the departments;
“and WHEREAS, the Board has reviewed a recommendation and a plan to consolidate two county departments: Fairgrounds and Parks, in order to improve customer service and access to services, connect centralized areas, and provide for administrative efficiency, as well as program and personnel management;
“and WHEREAS, the Board has determined that it would be in the best interest of the citizens of Josephine County to consolidate the functions of Fairgrounds and Parks into one department, and to rename the combined department to better reflect the services provided;
“now, therefore IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Recreation Director shall be responsible for the administrative management and supervision of the Fairgrounds and Parks departments, which shall be consolidated and known as the Recreation Department.
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Recreation Department shall be comprised of the following divisions: (1) Fairgrounds; (2) Parks.”