The lists of people who participated in selecting the new Colorado Springs parks director raised some eyebrows Tuesday, with some questioning the community voices invited to help pick a new leader for a high-profile department.

The lists released by parks advocates cover three stages of the interview process the city completed ahead of the mayor selecting Britt Haley as the new parks, recreation and cultural services director. She was announced as the nominee on Monday. The City Council must now vote to confirm Haley, who served as the interim director.

City of Colorado Springs selects new director for parks, recreation and cultural services

Some parks advocates questioned who the city asked to participate in the process, including representatives from the business community and some who were excluded, such as longtime parks advocates.

Resident Donna Strom said she was surprised they did not include parks advocates who worked on successful voter initiatives such as Protect our Parks, which now requires voters to approve parkland deals, or early iterations of the dedicated trails, open spaces and parks tax. For example, Kent Obee, who led the Protect our Parks campaign or Richard Skorman, a former city councilman, among other advocates could have been good choices, she said.

“They have been involved for decades, unpaid,” she said.

Strom was among the citizens asking officials to release the lists of those participating in the selection process for weeks.

“I see no reason not to be forthcoming,” she said.

Councilwoman Nancy Henjum acknowledged that the list of interviewers could have included some people who worked on those successful parks initiatives.

“It was an opportunity for the city to reach back to some folks that have dedicated a tremendous amount of time and passion and care and deserve a lot of credit for what we have now. … I think it was an oversight,” she said.

However, she thought the phase of the interview process that she participated in was a good one, because all the interviewers selected their top three candidates and submitted those to create a list that was then forwarded to the next phase of the interview process.

Some parks advocates were included in the process, including Trails and Open Space Coalition Executive Director Susan Davies, who was also happy with the early stage of selection she participated in. She said she was invited to the video screening process by the city’s human resources department. As part of the selection process, Davies and others ranked the 10 candidates they interviewed, she said. She was unaware of other people who took part in the selection process.

She attends every city advisory parks meeting and was looking for someone who would take the department to the next level.

“I think I brought value to the process,” she said. Jan Martin, president of the Garden of the Gods Foundation, and Forest Service representatives and the Rocky Mountain Field Institute participated.

Not all parks advocates feel represented by the coalition, in part, because it was not a part of the Protect our Parks initiative, choosing instead to back a measure that would have required a supermajority of the City Council to approve parkland deals and not a vote of the people.

Parks advocate Bruce Hamilton would have liked to see fewer people involved in business on the committees and a few more involved with land preservation. For example, representatives from the Housing & Building Association, The Broadmoor, Pikes Peak Hill Climb, and The Broadmoor, Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway participated in the selection.

“It is just very discouraging,” he said.

However, City Councilman Wayne Williams said involving businesses that contribute significantly to the Lodgers and Automobile Rental Tax that can support parks was also important. The city is considering increasing the tax specifically to support parks that drive tourism.