Parks director selected

Jeffrey Libby

Friday, Jan. 3, 2003 | 9:07 a.m.

A veteran California parks administrator will start Monday as director of Henderson Parks and Recreation Department.

Jim Norman, 54, was chosen from a national pool of more than 160 applicants. Since 1991, Norman has been deputy director of the San Jose parks department overseeing the recreation division.

In his new position, Norman will be paid $117,000 to oversee 137 full-time staffers, an annual budget of $27 million and more than 835 acres of parks and trails.

Former Henderson director Steve Rongyocsik retired in April after leading the department for five years and helping it win a national award for excellence in 1999.

In San Jose, Norman oversaw 330 full-time staffers, a $50 million annual budget for 3,800 acres of community and regional parks as well as recreation centers. He has worked 31 years for the parks department.

In 1999 and 2000 Norman helped devise a 20-year strategic plan with a $1.2 billion construction budget. To date, about $500 million in resources have been secured, he said. And in 2000, he helped campaign for a $228 million public bond. Approved by 80 percent of voters, it was the first public bond issue passed in San Jose in 40 years, he said.