New Parks Chief Is Familiar With Job

Al Church is very familiar with his new job at the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District.

Church, who was recently appointed district general manager, has worked for years as a senior administrator with the district.

“I’ve been 33 years in training, so that’s probably unique,” he said with a laugh.

The park board appointed Church to the top post at its June 3 meeting, replacing outgoing General Manager Jerry Gladden, who is set to retire Aug. 27.

Church said he is excited about the new post and looks forward to the challenges that come with the job. One such challenge, he said, will be to continue developing new facilities while maintaining those already in place.

“We’re running out of dollars and are definitely going to be in trouble maintaining new facilities,” he said. “Even if people were to give us facilities, we wouldn’t be able to maintain them.”

Church said he will use a team management approach in overseeing the district’s 65 employees.

“We have some outstanding staff members here, and they have varying skills and abilities,” he said. “We plan on doing it as a team along with the board of directors.”

Board Chairman Jim Meredith said Church’s work ethic and long tenure with the district made him the most attractive candidate.

“I think he’s very professional; he’s had a long association with the district, and we know what were getting when we get Al Church,” he said. “We’ve been very pleased with his performance in the past, and there’s no reason to think that’ll change now.”

The city has changed dramatically during Church’s tenure--the population has more than doubled.

“We had virtually just one park when [the district was established] and very little open space,” he said. “Now we have thousands of acres of open space and a lot of parks.”