By Shannon Sessions
For The Herald
LYNNWOOD — The city has a feather in its cap with its new parks, recreation and cultural arts director, Craig Larsen, officials say.
Larsen, who was King County’s parks and recreation director and worked there for 24 years, said there is no comparison between the two programs.
"Lynnwood is so much better — great programs — a quality we couldn’t do at the county level," Larsen said. "The contrast is unbelievable. King County is running out of money and is closing parks, and Lynnwood is excited and wants to grow on the level of service and programs."
Larsen starts in Lynnwood on Monday.
Lynnwood Mayor Mike McKinnon said choosing Larsen was the easiest decision he ever made.
A Richmond Beach resident, Larsen, 50, did some research on the Internet regarding the job. On more than one Web site referring to south Snohomish County, Larsen said, "When they talked about quality of life, almost all of them mentioned Lynnwood’s Park and Recreation Department and its programs."
He wanted to be part of that.
King County parks has been on the hot seat the past year with budget cuts. That is one reason why Larsen said he wanted to make the change. It closed 20 of its 176 parks last year, Larsen said.
Larsen said his plans include picking the brains of those who have been working for the department and who know Lynnwood.
Larsen said longtime director Bill Evans left the department in great shape. "Right now everything’s in a good place. I would ask everyone — where do we go from here?"
Shannon Sessions is the editor for the Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace editions of the Enterprise Newspapers. Call her at 425-673-6531 or email at sessions@heraldnet.com.
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