County Selects Tom Hoby as New Director of Open Space and Community Resources

Tom Hoby is not only our Open Space Director, he’s also the Director of the Community Resources Department. As such, he has executive oversight of the Boettcher Mansion, the CSU Extension, and the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. He brings to these jobs a very wide range of experience gained in his 29 years in the industry. He is a graduate of Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Outdoor Recreation Administration. He also has completed a number of educational programs to enhance his skills, earning him the title of Certified Park and Recreation Professional.

His start in open space administration was as an Outdoor Recreation Planner for the BLM with responsibility for 30 recreation sites and two wilderness areas. Tom then moved on to Lafayette, Colorado, where he served as Recreation Director for the city. There he managed nine parks, an outdoor pool, and 300 acres of open space. During his tenure he built community support and secured funding to create Waneka Lake Park.

Following his stint in Lafayette, Tom worked for a sports field lighting company designing, installing, and servicing lighting systems. He then spent five years as the Associate Executive Director of Special Olympics in Colorado. During this time, Tom created numerous strategic plans for regional program sustainability, coordinated statewide event locations, and managed funding and the structure of an organization that serves more than 150 communities and 5,000 people with developmental disabilities who participate in 18 sports throughout the year. He did this with a team of 22 staff and more than 9,700 volunteers.

Tom then returned to his Outdoor Recreation background, becoming the Director of Parks and Recreation for the Town of Essex, Vermont. He managed a 2200-acre park system including 18 parks, an innumerable number of trails, an outdoor swimming pool, public buildings and recreation programs.

Tom then returned to Colorado as Director of Parks, Recreation and Open Space for the Highlands Ranch Metro District. He led the efforts that created a model “green infrastructure community“ with a 3,000 acre parks and open space system comprised of 24 parks, over 70 miles of trails, 2500 acres of open space, four dog parks, two skate parks, 33 buildings and shelters, and a USTA national award winning tennis center. Tom created partnerships with local, county and state parks, open space and trails agencies, non-profit organizations, utility companies, the Douglas County School District, Littleton Fire Rescue, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Douglas County Libraries, the Highlands Ranch Chamber of Commerce, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, businesses, homeowner associations and service groups.

Tom is a forward-thinking, collaborative, consensus-building leader with a 30-year record of developing innovative and outstanding parks, recreation, open space and trails programs and services. A PLAN Jeffco Board member participated in the interview process, and we are certain that Tom can effectively direct the Jefferson County Open Space program.

As noted elsewhere in this newsletter, Tom will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Commissioners Dinner. At that time he will have the opportunity to inform the audience of his philosophies and goals as they relate to managing Jefferson County Open Space.