Mayor John Ewing appoints Jacquelyn Morrison new interim director of Omaha parks

Jacquelyn Morrison will step into the position July 6. Morrison, who has led economic development efforts for Ewing's staff and served in an economic development role under his predecessor, was promoted earlier this year to be the city's director of transformation and strategic partnerships and lead a major donor-involved initiative with the city's parks. 

She will serve in both roles until a new, permanent director of Omaha's Parks, Recreation and Public Property Department is found.

Ewing said Morrison, who has served in the mayor's office since 2022, is a proven deputy who has spent the past year working on parks projects and is trusted by the local philanthropic community.

In March, Ewing announced that Omaha's donors had offered to contribute $5 million toward parks if the city can find an additional $5 million to match it.

The initiative came in the wake of a consultant's report that indicated the city's budget is about $5 million short annually of the funds it needs for basic operation and maintenance of its more than 250 parks. The land totals more than 10,000 acres and 130 miles of trails, and it includes recreation centers, tennis complexes and golf courses. According to the report, staffing is insufficient and more than half are part-time employees.

Morrison already has been involved in an agreement the city reached last year with the Miller Park Trust, established by the Lozier Foundation, to take over primary operations and maintenance at North Omaha's Miller Park. The agreement took a page from a similar arrangement with the Lake Cunningham Development Trust, which operates Cunningham Lake under a contract with the city.

Her appointment comes nearly a year after the resignation of the former parks director Matt Kalcevich. Jake Linder, a 14-year parks department veteran, has served as interim director since Kalcevich's departure. Linder will return to his previous role as parks planning and development manager.

"This is an important role for Omaha, and we want to get this hire exactly right," Ewing said in a statement. "For the past year, Jake has kept a steady hand at the wheel, and now Jacquelyn can provide leadership as we continue looking for the next Omaha parks director."

The search for the more permanent hire has proven complicated. It technically is in its third round. 

Morrison said the city first tapped executive recruitment firm MGT to carry out the search. At the time, many of the complaints coming in about the parks system involved maintenance and a lack of day-to-day upkeep.

City officials created a profile targeting candidates that had come through the parks rather than recreation side of the business to make sure they got a director with expertise in maintaining parks.

But that search did not yield a quality candidate pool, Morrison said. The search firm specializes in more general government hiring rather than parks. That search cost about $30,000.

City officials went back to the drawing board, Morrison said. But this time they had more information about the parks. The consultant's report, a master plan for the parks system, had been completed and indicated that parks operations were underfunded by $5 million a year and were short about $5 million more in capital investment.

The director the city really needed, she said, would have expertise in budgeting and fundraising and the ability to identify deficiencies and solve them. 

The city then hired the national search firm Potrero Group, which specializes in hiring outdoor recreation specialists and has conducted park personnel searches across the country. It was able to do more targeted recruitment.

Between the two searches, the city also completed an extensive salary comparison among cities of comparable size and increased the salary range by about $20,000, Morrison said. 

The search firm did hear some concerns from contacts, the top one being Omaha's winter weather, she said. Economic uncertainty at the time was another issue, with war having begun with Iran and gas prices rising.

The situation now is a bit more settled. And while the salary is in line with those of peer cities, it might not be enough to overcome the weather factor and a relocation.

But the search produced what city officials thought was a quality candidate pool, Morrison said, and they identified a preferred candidate. The city offered him the job, but the out-of-state candidate withdrew for personal reasons.

Rather than go back to the same pool, she said, Potrero will re-open the search. "We're confident that they'll bring another quality candidate pool this time," she said. 

The cost of the second search was about $50,000, which was paid by a donor, Morrison said. Potrero will conduct the next search at no additional charge.

Morrison said she believes a couple factors drove the decision to change interim directors now, one being that the parks department is facing budget issues, and the city is going into its budget process for 2027.

The department had been over budget the past two years, she said, and some accountability measures are needed particularly as the city is seeking external funding. 

Morrison, who has a law degree, also has a bachelor's degree in accounting and worked in the field before attending law school.   

Morrison said parks employees also had been waiting on a permanent director for some decisions.

"This is the mayor's attempt to ... let them know that the department will still move forward despite not having a permanent director," she said.