Meet the new Bay Oaks director
Sean De Palma has been working in the parks and recreation field for most of his life. Although he was born in New York, De Palma, now 40, grew up in the Miami area and spent much of his career working for the governments in that area.
His first day as the new director of parks and recreation was Monday, Jan. 9, and he’s been busy attending meetings, catching up on Bay Oaks, and learning the budget.
What brought you to Fort Myers Beach?
It was a fresh opportunity. I wanted to try something new on the west coast – my visits on this side have people that are more well-rounded morally and ethically. I’ve been involved in south Florida politics at different levels, and the last five to seven years, my work ethics and my morality was pushed very hard. By morality, I mean what’s right and wrong and how you’re supposed to treat people. I don’t believe in misusing tax dollars, the misuse of the employees. I believe in transparency in our actions, we’re public servants. Transparency has been a problem in previous operations, and respect for public service was discarded. This position is a steward of the town.
You’ve worked for years as a recreation supervisor and park manager for Broward County as well as six months as assistant director for the City of Miami Gardens. How do you think this position is different?
The operation is drastically smaller. From the work staff, square footage, acreage, programs. But what is tremendously different, and welcomed by me, is the community is heartily involved. In former operations, we would spend millions on a new facility. No one would come to any of the planning meetings and then when it was built, they would come and complain. Here, the community is heavily participating and heavily involved. I’d rather deal with this.
You’re working with a $883,377 budget this year. How could the budget for Bay Oaks see improvements?
There has to be a professionalization of our operation. You utilize the funds that are available more effectively and more efficiently. The community is heavily involved and there are a lot of individuals who have expectations for us. If the public is demanding something now, they are driving the agenda. The community’s involvement has to be coordinated in a practical system to forecast and fund a cost. For example if I say I need a new computer and it costs $200, I have to budget and say we will save $100 this year and $100 next year.
What are your priorities for your first year?
My top priority is to put in place that truly utilizes tax dollars as effectively as possible. There is talk about donations and sponsorships, which we will pursue. We will have a strategic planning session for that, but stewardship of the tax dollars is my priority.
A tangible goal is, I would like to help my staff develop their full potential. The next time the town needs to hire a director for Bay Oaks, I want them to have two or three or four qualified candidates in house. Their passion is there, but they haven’t been developed.
There are a lot of great concepts and ideas happening. We need to improve a lot structurally and in the facilities. We’re going to look at so we can have a solid plan of what is needed, how to get what is needed and how it will overall benefit the town and community’s health.
What will your biggest challenge be?
The biggest challenge is also the biggest opportunity: to coordinate the passions and desires of the community, staff and administration. If we can get on the same page, of one accord, we will be a lot more successful. Like Abraham Lincoln says, united we stand, divided we fall. Well united we stand, divided we spend more tax dollars inefficiently. I want to help harness everything the community has and safeguard their money.