The committee searching for a new BREC Superintendent whittled down its pool of candidates to four finalists, Baton Rouge’s parks and recreation agency announced this morning.
At a meeting Thursday, committee members selected the following finalists after hearing a presentation on the top nine applicants for the job:
- Chris Nunes, director of parks and recreation for The Woodlands Township, Texas
- Carlos Sam, superintendent of schools for the East Feliciana Parish School Board
- Nicholas Williams, director of parks and recreation for the City of Oakland, California
- Corey Wilson, chief management and business service for BREC
Commissioners are currently scheduling in-person interviews with the finalists for approval at its Dec. 19 meeting, or, if necessary, a special meeting tentatively scheduled for Dec. 28.
The search committee is comprised of the BREC Commission’s Executive Committee, which includes Chairman Lloyd Benson II, Vice Chairman Reverend Shelton Dixon and Treasurer Larry Selders, along with Commissioner Sandra Davis and former Commissioner Bettsie Miller.
“As a committee, we are excited about the caliber of candidates interested in leading BREC during this pivotal time in its history,” Selders says in a prepared statement. “We have a significant number of major projects on the drawing board and are looking for someone who can continue the visionary leadership of Carolyn McKnight.”
BREC Superintendent Carolyn McKnight is retiring from the position when her contract expires at the end of the year. The search for her successor comes as BREC is moving on from several controversies that plagued the latter part of McKnight’s administration, including a controversial—and ultimately rejected—idea to relocate the Baton Rouge Zoo, and the zoo losing its national accreditation shortly thereafter.
Yet despite the year’s controversies, search firm Emergent Method reports a “high level of interest” for the superintendent position, receiving 27 total applications from candidates who were recruited for their experience with parks and recreation agencies. The firm attributes the caliber of candidates to “BREC’s national reputation for excellence as well as its unique structure as an independent park district,” according to a press release.
