Q & A with New Parks and Rec Director Mari Steinbach

Posted January 6th, 2010 by Dave Reaville

Q & A with Mari Steinbach, Director, Burlington Department of Parks and Recreation

Mari Steinbach, was appointed in October and comes to Burlington having worked over 20 years in local parks and recreation. She has a BS in Business Administration and a Master of Public Administration. Most recently she was Parks and Recreation Manager in Scottsdale, Arizona and before that she worked in Anchorage, Alaska. Steinbach is living in the New North End and is looking forward to warmer weather when she can bike to work.

 

Now that you’ve had a chance to get to know Burlington and what Parks and Recreation has to offer, what are your top three priorities going forward?

-          Building greater respect to this position and to the Parks & Recreation Department, with an intentional focus on community engagement

-          Delivering transparent processes and protocols around parks and recreation programs and projects

-          Increasing the quality and quantity of meaningful parks and recreation opportunities to the citizens and visitors of Burlington

 

Burlington has a growing and diverse population of older residents. How will Parks and Recreation meet the programming needs of Burlington’s older adults?

We are already embarking on a great initiative that is in the works in collaboration with AARP and the community senior centers! This is an opportunity to guide and participate in a community-wide leisure and wellness needs and opportunities assessment to help give intentional focus to those programming needs. Increasing the dialogue among service providers is paramount to understanding roles, needs, and the comprehensive community framework. Once we more clearly understand the needs of and offerings to this important community population, we can help facilitate stronger community collaboration and accessible opportunities – comprehensively through parks AND recreation!

 

In previous jobs, have you implemented or seen innovative programs you would like to bring to Burlington (for any age)?

-          a Park Foundation, along with increased volunteer initiatives

-          establishing standards, processes, and programs giving intentional focus to strong practices and tangible outcomes

-          building and sustaining a healthy collaborative environment among community partners that enables leveraging of resources to strengthen our community as a whole

 

What are our biggest gaps in service?

We as a department have realized that we can strengthen our programming around meeting leisure needs in early childhood; adult special interests, lifelong learning, and adventure; and active older adults. Also, as a whole we can do a better job of ensuring that our parks and programs are excellent gateways to building lifelong outdoor interests.

 

What are your three favorite sports or recreational activities?

Only three?  Skiing – both Nordic, Alpine; Bicycling; Running & Hiking

I’m open to learning and using other recreation skills in activities that others would like to share with me!