The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy has hired Jayne Miller, who in Minneapolis has overseen the nation’s highest rated city park system, as its new president and chief executive officer.
Ms. Miller, 59, will replace Parks Conservancy founder Meg Cheever, who will retire at the end of March after 21 years in those leadership positions.
“Meg has provided extraordinary service to the city through the creation, growth and continuing attention to the conservancy’s commitment to city parks,” said Daniel Booker, the conservancy’s board chairman. “She’s raised more than $105 million, a significant private sector commitment, for the city’s parks, and that’s made a real difference.”
Mr. Booker said Ms. Cheever had expanded the conservancy’s early focus from the four big city parks -- Schenley, Frick, Highland and Riverview -- to include work to make smaller neighborhood parks better.
“Meg began the conservancy’s work in parks like Mellon, August Wilson, McKinley and Arsenal, Allegheny Commons and Westinghouse,” Mr. Booker said. “There are hundreds of parks in Pittsburgh and we’re committed to an equity goal, to making sure parks other than the big four get some attention, and that there are high quality parks within walking distance throughout the city.”
Ms. Miller, whose resignation was announced Wednesday in Minneapolis, has earned praise there for her financial transparency and professional management as superintendent of the Minneapolis parks department and its $111 million annual budget. She’s also credited with getting the city to agree to commit an additional $250 million over 20 years for Minneapolis’ 160 neighborhood parks.
The Trust for Public Land, a national urban park advocacy organization, has rated the Minneapolis park system best in the nation each of the past five years. Pittsburgh parks have improved but are rated 39th this year among the 100 biggest U.S. cities.
“I think she’s going to be terrific,” said Ms. Cheever, 68. “She’s really run the best park system in the country, and seeing her up close and personal, she seems to know how everything is done.”
Ms. Miller said in a phone interview Thursday that she sees similarities between Minneapolis’ independent parks system and where Pittsburgh’s parks are heading.
“Pittsburgh is one of the top parks conservancies in the country. The work it’s done is amazing and the synergy with nonprofits and private entities is strong,” she said. “What we want to do with parks in Pittsburgh is to create a unified agreement and structure to oversee the parks and create a new national model.”
But Minneapolis’ parks department also has drawn criticism from activists and the NAACP for a racial equity plan, established by Ms. Miller, that they claimed didn’t go far enough, fast enough in hiring parks board staff. Protesters often disrupted meetings of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and called on Ms. Miller to resign. Those issues were at least partly the reason that six of the nine-member elected board are new following the November election.
Ms. Miller said the claims were made be a small group and one current employee. None of the claims has been affirmed by the city’s civil rights department or civil service, she said, adding that parks department minority employment increased from 20 percent of the workforce in 12010, when she arrived, to 25 percent this year.
Mr. Booker said the conservancy’s board was aware of the controversies and the criticism of Ms. Miller.
“We did due diligence. We’re aware of it but we’ve also gotten positive feedback to our questions from the Urban League and the NAACP offices,” he said. “We’ve looked at data, the actual record, and it’s clear from talking to people there that she was committed to diversity and equity there, and will provide the same high quality leadership here.”
Ms. Miller will assume her position in Pittsburgh on Feb. 5, and work with Ms. Cheever during a two-month transition period through the end of March.
Mr. Booker said the conservancy’s contract with Ms. Miller is for three years and pays her $220,00 for the first year. He said Ms. Miller was scheduled to make $195,000 in Minneapolis on a contract that was to run through June. According to the conservancy’s most recent available tax filing, Ms. Cheever’s salary was $209,000 in 2015.
Don Hopey: dhopey@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1983, or on Twitter @donhopey
Correction, posted Dec. 8, 2017: In an earlier version of this story, Ms. Cheever’s salary was misstated; her salary was $209,000 in 2015.
First Published: December 7, 2017, 11:35 p.m.
