|
|
|
|
|
Parks and Recreation Dept.
reorganized — again
Second time in two years - Nysoe out at Pavilion
By Lary Coppola |
 |
| After 12 years running the Kitsap Pavilion, Dain Nysoe resigned after his job was eliminated and he was offered a choice of an office assistant or maintenance job. |
|
It’s no secret that the Kitsap Pavilion has been the county’s white elephant. The cavernous building is difficult to get to, has questionable acoustics and for the past couple of years, users of the facility have complained that lack of maintenance — along with the fact no one on-site seems to have any authority to solve even the smallest problems — has become a source of major irritation.
It’s also no secret that the county’s Parks and Recreation Department has been in ongoing turmoil for as long as anyone can remember. It’s had four directors in the past two years — including current director Cris Gears serving twice in that time. It has also undergone a number of administrative reorganizations, including the second one in two years, approved on July 23, that eliminated the Administrative Services Manager position held by Dain Nysoe since April of 1989.
When he was hired, Nysoe, whose prior experience included a stint with the Bremerton Chamber, was tasked with marketing the Pavilion and the entire Fairgrounds complex, for all events not related to the Fair itself. He replaced Bill Huntington who was the original director when the facility opened. Ironically, Huntington’s daughter, Debbie Baker, has assumed Nysoe’s duties.
On the day the reorganization was approved, Nysoe submitted his resignation, which was accepted by the commissioners.
All three county commissioners and administrator Malcolm Fleming were asked for comments on Nysoe’s departure. Commissioners Jan Angel and Tim Botkin were out of town at a National Association of Counties educational meeting at the time. Commissioner Chris Endresen said, “I really don’t think it is appropriate for us to discuss individual personnel issues in the press.” and then added, “In the past, the Board has been accused of micro-managing. We get involved in the hiring/firing of our department heads and then try to leave the rest of the department personnel decisions to those department heads.”
Fleming’s response was terse: “According to Cris Gears, in his letter of resignation Dain Nysoe indicated that the staff positions created through the reorganization plan are not well suited to his education, experience and abilities. The reorganization plan was discussed with Parks and Recreation staff in early July and approved by the Board of Commissioners today (July 23).”
Botkin answered upon his return, saying, “The Fair and Parks Dept. has been the subject of concern and the focus of turmoil for many years. Some of the issues have apparently been institutional, others professional. The short of it is that I have heard at least three high level administrators who I respect tell me that this change is appropriate and the best available answer to the issues. I do not think it appropriate that I intercede under the circumstances. I will, however, expect to see improvement in the near future, both for our customers and internally.”
Was a complete reorganization really necessary,?
Nysoe’s not certain. “I think this started with Jim Montgomerie when he was interim director. I don’t know what the emphasis behind it was. My understanding was that during the month of July, some strategies or ideas on how to reorganize the department were discussed among the management team.”
Nysoe was part of that team, but wasn’t included in the discussions because he had been placed on administrative leave. This occurred during the time frame Fleming referred to.
Nysoe says he still isn’t clear exactly why he was put on leave, because no one would answer that question when he asked it. No one at the county is talking now either.
Calls to Bert Furuta, director of the Personnel and Human Services Dept. went unreturned.
Gears was asked, but avoided directly answering the question, saying only that it wasn’t a reflection of Nysoe’s job performance. “We were evaluating the need for that position,” he replied, but wouldn’t elaborate. Gears didn’t return follow-up calls meant for clarification.
However, Angel said that when she inquired into the situation during the time Nysoe was on administrative leave she was told by Gears the matter was a personnel issue and was “under investigation,” so he couldn’t provide her with any information.
Angel added that nothing concerning Nysoe has come in front of the commissioners in either executive session or via e-mail. “Usually, when there’s a problem like this, the department heads will give us a heads up. But there’s just been nothing on this at all.”
So why didn’t Nysoe accept one of the two positions the county offered him? “The two positions that were offered to me as a result of the reorganization and the elimination of my position were that of an office assistant and the second one was a maintenance lead person — which I would have to apply for,” he answered.
In the reorganization, both Nysoe and Baker’s jobs were eliminated and combined into one position — which was awarded to Baker. Nysoe has been with the county much longer than Baker and the one position which he was offered is basically her assistant.
Nysoe, who has a degree in political science and economics and a Masters in public administration, added dryly, “I don’t want to sound like a snob, but being an office assistant or maintenance lead person isn’t the best use the county could make of my abilities.”
When he took over at the Pavilion, there were numerous problems in marketing it — most inherent in the facility itself.
“When I took over there were on average two events a month there. They were few and far between,” commented Nysoe. “On a weekend basis, we utilized about 20 percent of them. Now, between the Pavilion and the President’s Hall, we are about 90 to 95 percent booked for both buildings on the weekends.”
Nysoe was able to turn around the Pavilion by a combination of aggressive marketing, targeting potential users, and most importantly, by developing a reputation as a facility that provided quality service, clean facilities and up to date equipment.
“That in itself generated a lot of business for us because it isn’t the usual standard in the industry,” he stated. “That’s something in the 12 years I was there I was very proud of.”
So, if the facility was being marketed well, enjoyed a high occupancy rate and a good reputation, why is there a problem?
“In my opinion, things started unraveling about two years ago — the last time our department went through a reorganization,” answered Nysoe. “That was about the time Cris Gears came on as director for his first tour of duty so to speak.”
Gears served for a little over a year, left to run the Parks Dept. in Bremerton, and returned early in 2001.
“The maintenance staff that worked in the Pavilion reported directly to me,” said Nysoe. “The reorganization placed the maintenance staff under the maintenance and operations supervisor. What that did was created an indirect line of responsibility and that made it difficult for users of the facility to know who to talk to get problems resolved.”
In taking with a number of users of the Pavilion, they all agreed that Nysoe was right on the money with that statement.
The Homebuilders Association of Kitsap County has put on the Home & Garden Expo at the Pavilion since it’s been open. According to executive vice president Art Castle, the quality of service took a steep nose-dive a couple of years ago.
“Over the last several years, in my opinion, there seems to be a disconnect between the people you deal with in renting the facility, and the people responsible for seeing that the maintenance and set-up were done according to the contract. After the last reorganization by the county, it seems Dain Nysoe, the guy we dealt with initially in the contract phase, no longer had any authority to help us deal with problems.”
Castle said this has been a growing source of irritation since the reorganization. “Where I’ve seen the real problem come in over the years has been the deferred maintenance. I haven’t been to an activity out there where the bathrooms haven’t been in terrible shape. After the last home show, I met with Cris Gears to voice my frustration.”
Castle also said that the lack of follow up by the maintenance crew where the county’s contractual obligations are concerned has been a problem that has also cost his association extra money. He has had to bring in extra temporary help to do work the county was obligated to do in order to get the show open on time.
Show promoter Susan Lanyi of The Direct Approach, who has put on the Wedding Expo and the Job Fair for the past seven years, echoed Castle’s concerns.
“I’ve known Dain since he was with the Chamber,” she said. “As time went on some of his authority was taken away and after that, things weren’t nearly as well kept. The bathrooms are just horrible! The people who are responsible for set-up just aren’t doing their job.”
Lanyi said Nysoe was able to resolve most issues until about two years ago, and then it seemed that no one was accountable for problems. She too complained of incurring extra expense for items the county was contractually bound to provide in order to get her shows set up and open on time.
“If I’m paying $5,000 for one day, why in hell do I have to go there a week ahead of time, bring in extra help and make sure they’ve done their job?” she wondered.
She also noted that in the past two years billing was often inaccurate. “They charge you for every additional chair, table and skirt. I caught them overcharging me a couple of times for carpet I didn’t use and once for a P.A. system. Dain was always able to resolve those issues for me, but when it came to the set-up charges and problems there, he had to back off. Frankly, if I had a choice of going someplace else, I’d be there.”
Cris Larsen has chaired the East Bremerton Rotary’s “Blast From The Past” for the past three years and served on the event’s committee for the past six. The Rotary event is now the largest fund raising event in the county. His experience was even worse than that of Castle or Lanyi.
He too complained about the lack of maintenance staff, set-up problems — and the bathrooms. “If you don’t have toilet paper in the ladies room, you don’t have an event,” he stated.
“Because of what happened two years ago they had to give us the Pavilion last year for free.” he said with an edge in his voice. “Because of the lack of staff, the power was hooked up wrong. Fuses kept blowing while the band was on stage.”
Like everyone else, Larsen agreed that the problems began a couple of years ago and have gotten steadily worse because no one is seemingly accountable.
“Dain was the person who would always make things right. But the past few years his hands were definitely tied,” he added.
Charles Gilfillan of the Harrison Hospital Foundation, which puts on the Festival of Trees event each year said his group’s experience has been basically positive.
He also mentioned the restrooms. “We’re a hospital, so naturally, we’re sensitive to cleanliness.” He added, “In recent years, the staff has been very responsive to us,” and he singled out several people for their good work.
Gilfillan did mention leaks over the southwest stairway, saying it created a problem for the kids part of the event. “I wrote to Dain suggesting this and several other items be looked into.”
He praised Nysoe for the job he’s done working with them and expressed dismay at his departure. “We’re going to miss Dain. He was a good friend of the Foundation. We always knew that no matter what, he would help us if there was a problem and that we could even call him at home if it was necessary.”
Everyone contacted also complained about the fact that the county has imposed a 50 cent per ticket surcharge for “upkeep,” even though it appears none is being done. Gilfillan said he would support the charge if it was in fact being used to help upgrade the facility.
Prior to the reorganization two years ago, Nysoe handled the booking of the facility and dealt with the customers from start to finish. Afte the change, he handled them only through the contract phase. The customer’s set-up and staffing needs were handled by the Maintenance Dept. which is now headed by Beverly Reeves. However, she has only been there for the past several months. Prior to her Tom Dubzic was in that slot.
So when there were problems, rather than Nysoe being able to resolve them immediately, he was forced to refer the customer to Maintenance or take the problem to Maintenance himself. He no longer had authority to handle the problem directly.
“Immediately after the last reorganization I began getting complaints from people using the facilities,” Nysoe explained. “Whether they dealt with cleanliness or staffing issues or other maintenance related issues. During that two year period of time, we had four different directors, if you count Cris Gears twice. In every case, I expressed to the director what I felt the problems were and how they could be resolved. And that was by going back to the way things were — whether it was me or someone else sitting in that desk. Whoever has the responsibility for contracting with the customer also needs to have the authority to manage all aspects of the event from start to finish.”
Gears was asked if this most recent reorganization will address the fact no one seems to be accountable to the customers. His answer: “The reorganization will partially address that and improve internal communications.”
As an illustration of the problem, Nysoe said even though he was on administrative leave, his son answered a phone call at 6 a.m. Saturday morning, at home, because the customer couldn’t reach anyone else to solve a problem. “I’m not certain what the event was or who called, but the fact I received the call at all is symptomatic of the problem.”
Nysoe says the department has offered him the opportunity to stay on the payroll until his annual leave is used up, which is about nine weeks. In the meantime he’s looking for other employment, but with 18 years of government service, is thinking about substitute teaching to help towards his retirement.
Nysoe says he’ll miss the customers the most. “The thing I’m going to miss the most is working with the people who have used the facility in the 12 years I was there. For their sake, and all the future users of the facilities, I hope the county can resolve these problems in the best interest of the customers. As a taxpayer-owned facility, customer service should be the number one priority.”
It seems the customers couldn’t agree more.
|
|
| |
|
| |
