DANA POINT : Park District’s Top Official Is Laid Off

The board of directors of the cash-strapped Capistrano Bay Park and Recreation District on Tuesday laid off the district’s top administrator, calling it a cost-cutting measure.

The five directors of the small, independent district, which was devastated by state budget cuts this summer, voted unanimously during a special meeting to eliminate administrator Stewart A. Frame’s position, said Paul Whisenand, a planning consultant for the district. Frame’s duties will be divided among other top staff members.

Frame had held the job for nine months.

The reorganization will result in a cost savings for the district of $60,000 to $70,000, Whisenand said.

“This wasn’t due to (Frame), this was due to the budget,” Whisenand said.

Frame was informed of the board decision Tuesday afternoon, Whisenand said, adding that Frame gave the board a letter stating that he understood the directors’ reasons for their decision and offering his resignation. Frame could not be reached for comment.

The district, which operates 15 parks and runs a recreation program throughout the six-square-mile city of Dana Point, was braced for budget cuts this year but was hit harder than anyone anticipated, Whisenand said.

The board had estimated it would lose $650,000 in property tax revenue to the state during the current fiscal year. Instead, the district has been forced to cut more than twice that amount, an estimated $1.36 million, or nearly 59% of its annual $2.4-million operating budget.

“This was one of those tough, hard decisions that every once in a while you have to make,” said Lynn J. Muir, a board member. “If we are going to lose over $1 million, we had to start someplace. Nobody came out of this meeting happy.”

Frame, 44, formerly recreation director for Foster City, a town of 35,000 in Northern California, was picked from 90 applicants to replace David Lewis, who is now director of recreation for Laguna Hills. As a new employee, Frame was working in a probationary period at a salary of $77,000 annually, plus a $300 monthly car allowance and a benefit package, Whisenand said.

Frame “was at the end of his probationary period and we had to make an evaluation,” Muir said. “We decided to take advantage of our talent and promote from within.”

Staff member Bonnie Nicholl, who has worked for the district for more than 10 years, will temporarily assume many of Frame’s duties and will be elevated to a new position called interim general manager. Her permanent status will be determined within the next few weeks, Muir said.

The 28-year-old district is one of several independent districts within the city of Dana Point being studied for possible consolidation by the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission. Under one scenario, the district would be absorbed by the city as a park and recreation department.