Cedar Rapids seeks new Parks and Recreation director after Scott Hock’s departure

CEDAR RAPIDS — The city of Cedar Rapids is searching for a new person to lead its Parks and Recreation Department.

After three years at the helm, Scott Hock recently stepped down from the role.

“I really enjoyed my time in Cedar Rapids,” Hock said in a statement Monday. “ … However, moving back to central Iowa was a decision that best meets the needs of my family at this time.”

As key accomplishments during his time with the city, Hock pointed to the department’s creation of the Rollin’ Recmobile program, opening of the Mini Pines Golf Course and progress on the ReLeaf Cedar Rapids initiative to replenish the tree canopy lost in last year’s derecho.

The department operates the city’s municipal golf courses, 96 parks, Ushers Ferry Historic Village, Old MacDonald's Farm in Bever Park, two athletic complexes, six swimming pools and more. It employs the equivalent of 125 full-time staff.

Typically, the system serves approximately 1.5 million users annually, though those numbers are down because the COVID-19 pandemic has caused facility closures and made less programming available.

Hock in July 2018 came to Cedar Rapids from the city Davenport, where he had been parks and recreation director since April 2014. The Manson native had over 20 years of experience in the field, with roles in Urbandale, Ames and Shenandoah in Iowa and in Kansas City, Kan.

Human Resources Director Teresa Feldmann said in a statement that the salary range for the position is $108,192.07 to $151,468.90. The job will be posted in the coming weeks and the city will not be using a search firm. Assistant City Manager Angie Charipar took over on an interim basis Aug. 16.

Hock’s departure comes while the department grapples with impacts from the pandemic and the derecho, which downed most of the city’s tree canopy and damaged some parks facility infrastructure.

City Manager Jeff Pomeranz noted the efforts to restore the tree canopy as an opportunity for the next director, as well as revamping Parks and Recreation programming “to continue meeting the demands of our changing community.”

“The prior director did an excellent job,” Pomeranz said. “ … We’re looking forward to the process of finding a replacement for Mr. Hock. We have a very strong parks system in Cedar Rapids and one that is acknowledged as a leading parks organization across the country.”

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