Tim Stapleton, a manager with experience across the state Fish and Wildlife and Natural Resources departments, will head Vashon Park District, the district announced last week. He’ll start the job on April 9.

Stapleton has recently been a manager of conservation and recreation lands at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Natural Resources.

Stapleton said he and his partner decided to move Vashon after visiting the island in 2020.

“My partner and I happened to be looking for a more rural setting to raise our kids, and during our first few hours on the island we met so many wonderful, kind people,” he wrote in an email. “That same year, we bought a lot and started the process of building a home.”

With their new home on schedule to be finished this year, Stapleton said the Park District role matched his desire to serve the island community and help maintain sustainable recreation.

“I’m very excited to start in this role and look forward to getting to know all of our neighbors [who] utilize, care for, and support the work of the park district,” he said.

”The board was impressed with his extensive relevant experience and successful approach in facility maintenance, state grant funding, stakeholder collaboration, budgeting and staff support, and other relevant areas,” said Park District board member Hans Van Dusen.

Stapleton follows in the footsteps of Elaine Ott-Rocheford, who took over as executive director in 2013 and led the Park District out of a troubled period in which it struggled to pay contractors. Ott-Rocheford announced her plans to retire late last year.