Fort Smith in the hunt for a parks and recreation director

Fort Smith’s Director of Parks and Recreation Doug Reinert will leave the city June 9 to take the position of city administrator for Fairfield, Iowa. Reinart started as the director of parks and recreation on April 6, 2015.

“Doug Reinert has been solely focused on maintaining and improving the city parks and Oak Cemetery. Throughout his tenure, he successfully collaborated with the Parks Commission, the Board of Directors, and the city and deputy city administrators to craft a plan to utilize the 1/8th% sales tax that has and will continue to improve recreation in the City of Fort Smith,” City Administrator Carl Geffken said in a note. “In addition to his successful tenure as parks director, Doug was also the interim director of solid waste before the city hired a new solid waste director. He worked diligently to manage both departments and he did so very well. We are very thankful for his contributions to the City of Fort Smith. Doug will be missed.”

Reinert said becoming a city administrator has always been a part of his plans and he’s excited for the opportunity.

“I’ve learned a lot from everyone I’ve worked with. I’ve been paying attention over the last 10 years, and I appreciate the leadership. I appreciate the dedication (shown by city leaders),” Reinert said.

He said he believes the reputation Fort Smith has as a city helped him get the position, noting that they liked the dedication the city has to improving. He said Fairfield is growing and has many people invested in the positive growth of the city, much like Fort Smith.

“I also would like to say that Fort Smith has been good to me and my family. As far as I’m concerned Fort Smith is the gold standard of municipalities,” Reinert said. “I’m proud to be a part of this community, and just because I’m leaving, does not mean I have forgotten (the city) and that I won’t come back.”

Josh Buchfink, public relations manager for Fort Smith, said the city is seeking the help of an executive recruiting firm that specializes in placements for local governments in order to fill the position that will be left vacant with Reinert’s departure.

“The search will be a nationwide search. We expect the search to be a minimum of 30 days following the development of the recruiting materials and ad placements by the recruiting firm. Resumes will be reviewed to narrow the applicant pool with telephone/video interviews conducted prior to inviting candidates to the city for in-person interviews,” he said.

Reinert’s base salary is $101,430 annually. The director position is listed as a pay grade 51 position in the city’s budget. According to the city’s salary schedule, pay grade 51 has an entry annual salary of $91,790.40. The midpoint salary for the pay grade is $114,732.80, and the max annual salary is $137,675.20.