Submitted by Washington State Parks

The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission will hold a special virtual meeting next week to discuss and select candidates to interview for the state park director position.

The special meeting begins at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21. During the meeting, the commission will discuss top candidates and their credentials, then select which candidates to interview. An agenda is available on the State Parks website.

In November 2020, current State Parks Director Don Hoch announced he will retire March 2, 2021, after more than 10 years as the agency’s director. He has been with State Parks since 2004, starting as manager for the agency’s Puget Sound region. Director Hoch will be moving to Georgia to spend more time with his family.

The Parks and Recreation Commission is charged with the responsibility of determining qualifications of and selecting a State Parks director.

In compliance with the Public Open Meetings Act (OPMA), a meeting space at State Parks headquarters will be available for the public to watch the meeting if the governor doesn’t extend the current suspension of that requirement. Commissioners and staff will participate remotely and will not be onsite/in-person.

If the suspension of the in-person requirement is extended, no meeting room will be available. People can check for updates about the meeting space on the online version of this news release.

The public can participate in the meeting by using one of the following phone numbers or online through WebEx:

Telephone

Seattle toll: 206-207-1700

U.S. toll: 415-655-0001

Meeting access code: 177 711 7925

WebEx

Event link

Event Password: WAP@rks2021

In person (only if OPMA is NOT extended)

Washington State Parks headquarters

1111 Israel Rd. SW.

Tumwater, WA 98501

(Driving directions)

No public comment will be taken during the meeting.