Deborah Edgerly has appointed Audree V. Jones-Taylor as the new Director of Oakland’s Parks & Recreation Department.

The department provides recreation, sports, aquatic, and performing arts programs at 140 parks and recreational facilities, and manages 2,000 acres of parkland and open space. A resident of Oakland, Jones-Taylor has more than 25 years’ experience in managing parks and recreation programs and departments in the cities of San Bernardino, Long Beach and San Francisco.

In the past three years, she has consulted for the cities of East Palo Alto, Tampa, FL and Dallas, TX where she focused on program development for underserved communities. A former Co-chair, and now fundraising chair, of the volunteer Oakland Parks Coalition, she has helped develop community-driven parks maintenance standards, and assisted in organizing the first “Love Your Park Tour” for the City of Oakland.

Audree is currently a board member of Friends of Oakland Parks and Recreation and a member of ACTS Full Gospel Church. She holds a business management degree from University of Redlands. She will start work on March 22, 2004.

For more information, please contact the Office of the City Manager at (510) 238-6369 or (510) 238-3302.