The CEO and president of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Jayne Miller, will be taking a six-month leave to “attend to personal matters,” the organization announced Wednesday in a release.
Parks Conservancy founder and former CEO Meg Cheever will fill the role during the interim as the organization’s “senior executive advisor.”
Ms. Miller’s leave begins May 1 and continues through Oct. 31.
Parks Conservancy officials were not immediately available Wednesday afternoon to discuss the reasons for the temporary leave.
Ms. Miller succeeded Ms. Cheever as the conservancy’s head in 2018 after serving as the superintendent of the Minneapolis parks department.
The conservancy was behind the new parks tax that was narrowly passed by voters in November.
The organization, with public support from Mayor Bill Peduto, petitioned for the ballot referendum that asked residents if they were willing to increase property taxes by a half-mill to fund the city's 165 parks.
Once implemented, tax bills will increase $50 for every $100,000 in assessed property value. City Council is at a standstill on the enabling legislation that will create the parks trust fund.
The conservancy, along with the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project, backed the campaign for the referendum with $760,000.
Mick Stinelli: mstinelli@post-gazette.com; 412-263-1869; and on Twitter: @MickStinelli
Ashley Murray: 412-263-1750, amurray@post-gazette.com; and on Twitter: @Ashley__Murray
First Published: April 29, 2020, 10:10 p.m.
