Outstanding Professional: Guy Miller

Guy Miller is Recreation Services Manager for the City of Rohnert Park, responsible for 110 acres of city parks including 25 tennis courts, 20 playgrounds, 14 baseball/softball fields, nine soccer fields, five swimming pools, four community centers, senior center, and fitness center with an annual budget of $3.1M. He provides City staff support for the Parks & Recreation Commission, Parks, Recreation and Open Space Committee, and Senior Advisory Commission.

Guy has been a CPRS member since 1985, serving as the State Supervisors Board Representative for two years and as District 1 President for 1997-1998. He received the CPRS Citation Award in 1998. He is also a longtime member of NRPA.

He assumed management of the Recreation Department in 2002 during a citywide reorganization. He implemented the department’s first automated registration and facility reservation system, adding on-line registration capability in 2003. Guy also facilitated the creation of Rohnert Park’s first Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Master Plan. He and his staff have successfully opened and operated the Callinan Sports & Fitness Center since 1985. The City-owned Center is a 10,000 sq. ft. fitness and athletic facility, which underwent a redesign in 1990, transforming it from a financial drain to a profitable enterprise. Guy led the Parks & Recreation Commission in creating a Park Audit, which identified areas of needed maintenance and established priorities for renovations and served as Project manager for three playground replacement projects in 2007. Three additional playground renovation projects are planned for 2008. Lead designer on two new city swimming pools and Project Manager for city’s first three dog parks, he earned a California Congressional Award for the teen program “Free Friday.”  He also worked closely with a local baseball group to create the “Field of Dreams,” host to the 2007 Cal Ripken Western Regional Championships and State Championships. In an entirely different, but related vein, he received city proclamation for “Heroic Response” to a citizen’s cardiac emergency.

Drew Satariano - Outstanding Commissioner Award 2008

Drew Satariano, currently Vice President, has served on the City of Long Beach Parks and Recreation Commission since July 2002.  The Commission advises the Director of Parks, Recreation and Marine on issues such as plans for development, beautification and maintenance of public parks and recreational areas. 

In 2004, Mr. Satariano was elected president of the newly-formed Sea Festival Association of Long Beach, a nonprofit 501-3C Corporation.  The mission of association is to manage and expand the the 50-year-old Long Beach Sea Festival. The annual Festival consists of aquatics-themed special events promoting the City’s ocean and beach activities.  The association oversees Sea Festival marketing, operations, community relations, franchises and sponsorships. Since he took the helm, Long Beach became the starting point for the famous biennial Transpacific Race from Point Fermin to Honolulu and back.. The association contracts with the City to manage all water and beach-related events during peak summer months. With a major sponsorship from Charter Communications, the Sea Festival continues to build Long Beach’s reputation as a premier recreational destination.

Drew Satariano is also the guiding force behind the establishment of both a Baseball Hall of Fame and a Softball Hall of Fame. Largely a volunteer effort, the two halls honor 35 outstanding baseball and 38 softball players from Long Beach who have made significant contributions in their respective sports.

Outstanding Commission:

City of Colton

The City of Colton’s Community Services Director, Bill Smith, nominated his city’s commission, describing the group as follows: “In the opinion of this administrator, this commission has been among the most active he has seen. The key service that this commission has provided has been to unify the community on projects. The commission has made special efforts to bring the community, staff, and elected officials together to see that all input is considered in the planning, design, and implementation of projects and program. This quality of involving stakeholders alone, set this commission apart from many, and makes them worthy of recognition.”

The City of Colton, population 53,000, is situated between the larger southern California cities of San Bernardino and Riverside. The 51-acre park system consists of 12 parks, serving a demographic population falling well below the median national state income level, presenting obvious challenges to effective recreational program delivery. An older city with deep community roots can show great resistance to “…innovative ideas that facilitate any change within the community.”

In the past three years, the Commission has established “…an effective link between officials, staff and the community to create consensus on projects… through public meetings, hearing a great deal of public testimony, and worked together with staff and elected officials to create an attainable vision for the community and ‘by the community.’” Among the collective accomplishments are the development of a citywide Park & Facilities Master Plan, the blueprint for city park improvement; the Colton Parks Hours Study, which altered the open hours of parks to increase park security and enforcement and decrease usage for unlawful purposes; the Security Camera Program at two parks, utilizing technology to significantly low the number of police calls; the Veteran’s Park Project, a re-energizing project protecting historical facilities while revitalizing with a $3.5 million infusion of new amenities; the establishment of the Colton Sports Hall of Fame, honoring the City’s sports heroes and families; and the Ball field Allocation Ordinance, which fairly allocates sports field space to all youth sports organizations in the city. Additionally, the Commission is working the City Council and the county to establish the first County Regional Park to be located in Colton.

City of Concord Special Outstanding Award:

Liz Lamach 

Liz Lamach is a member of the City of Concord Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Commission. She has been honored primarily for her tireless efforts in the creation of  “…Matteo’s Dream – A Playground for Children of ALL abilities.”  Proudly, but humbly, she confesses, “My greatest joy in life is being Matteo’s Mom.  We adopted Matteo when he was just two months old.  It did not take us long to see that a child with multiple disabilities would not be able to play in playgrounds with his cousins.  Since many of my fondest memories of my childhood were spent in playgrounds, it saddened me to know that Matteo would not get these same opportunities for play.” Liz began working on the development of “…a very different kind of park. “ Our main focus was for all children, she said. “We wanted to create a place where all children could come together in play.”

Seven years and $750,000 later, over 2,500 volunteers were brought together to build the dream in eight days.   Liz admits, “It was a long, hard road to travel to get there, but worth every minute of it.   The ADA designer from Leathers and Associates stated that what we accomplished in terms of accessibility and playability for all children was unprecedented.” 

Liz, a lifetime resident of Concord, has worked for Criterion Catalysts and Technologies (a Shell Oil subsidiary) for the past 15 years.  Besides serving as a parks commissioner, she is a charter President of the newly formed Concord Lions Club.  She also credits the Lions Clubs of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties as major contributors of this project (both financially and as volunteers).  The Matteo’s Dream non-profit group worked side by side with the City of Concord to bring this amazing play structure together.  This project, according to Liz, would not have happened without the support and contributions of the City of Concord and the local Lions Clubs. 

(See www.Childrensplayground4all.com)