Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors is losing its top administrator after eight months on the job.
April Furth was hired to lead the department in June, over the concerns of some City Council members who wanted an administrator with more direct parks experience, similar to then-outgoing-administrator Scott Martin.
Furth had previously been a public servant in Clark County, Washington, for five years, mainly as community development director. Before that, she worked for two decades in corporate management for retailers.
Furth’s last day is Feb. 20. She will return to Vancouver, Washington, to serve as deputy manager of Clark County starting Feb. 23.
“I am incredibly excited,” Furth said in a statement to Clark County Today. “I look forward to reconnecting with neighbors and finding meaningful ways to contribute to the community.”
Furth, who had an outgoing salary of $154,500, will be replaced by the parks department’s communications director, Brian Smith, as interim administrator.
Smith’s current $88,000 salary will increase to $116,000 once he assumes his new role. In an email, Smith said his current duties will be managed by existing parks staff with his assistance as needed.
On Thursday, the city posted a job opening online for the administrator position.
“The department administrator’s role is to work with our partners to ensure the vision of the Parks and Outdoors Plan is realized,” Stephanie Cepak, spokesperson for Mayor Tim Kelly, said in an email. “Chattanooga’s outdoors and natural resources are our greatest competitive advantage and why we’re North America’s first National Park City.”
(The designation for outdoorsy locations comes from an international organization and is unrelated to the National Park Service.)
Council member Chip Henderson of Lookout Valley said in a phone interview he was disappointed the role had been vacated less than a year after being filled. Henderson, along with fellow council member Ron Elliott of Missionary Ridge, had expressed doubt over Furth’s initial hiring.
“When Scott Martin left, he left big shoes to fill,” Elliott said by phone. “We’re a National Park City, and that has to mean something. We’re going to have to figure out how we find the next good leader to pick up the mantle.”
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Both council members expressed they would like the next administrator to be from the Chattanooga area.
“One thing we are so quick to do is look outside when sometimes the gems may be right here in our backyard,” Elliott said.
According to Elliott, current parks department staff, along with personnel from the Land Trust for Tennessee, Trust for Public Land and the U.S. Department of the Interior who already live and/or work in Chattanooga, should be scouted as potential picks for leadership.
Henderson pointed to the appointments of Fire Chief Terry Knowles, Police Chief John Chambers and Public Works Administrator Jerramy “Jay” Wood as successful hires who had previously worked in their respective departments before being tapped for leadership.
Vision, Henderson said, was his top criteria for a parks administrator — someone who would work to make parks both accessible and enticing to every Chattanoogan.
“Parks are what give our city that vitality,” he said. “When you think about improving your physical health, your mental health, our parks play a crucial role in all of that.
Contact growth and development reporter Raymon Troncoso rtroncoso@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6317.
