The City of Delta has named a new director of parks, recreation and culture.
Following the retirement of Ken Kuntz in August, Delta has hired Carmen Gonzalez who will assume the role starting Oct. 12.
In a City of Delta news release, Delta states: “With an extensive background in the federal government and senior roles in multiple Lower Mainland municipalities, Ms. Gonzalez brings a reputation for strategic thinking, great corporate culture, and citizen-focused service delivery to the community.
“In her most recent role at the City of Abbotsford, Ms. Gonzalez successfully navigated the recreation and culture department through the pandemic and supported the departmental focus on positively impacting the community through high quality customer service.”
City manager Sean McGill said Gonzalez brings a broad range of experience with a keen eye for positive departmental development and service-focused operations to the City of Delta. “She will be a great fit with our senior leadership team and council while putting the community at the forefront of everything we do,” said McGill. “I look forward to working closely with Carmen to continue moving our parks, recreation, and cultural services forward.”
Prior to Abbotsford, Gonzalez led parks, recreation, and culture corporate and business planning, capital planning, strategy and policy development, and grant programs at the City of Coquitlam. Throughout her career, Gonzalez has developed years of leadership experience and in Abbotsford she oversaw a department of 300 employees.
“On behalf of council I want to welcome Ms. Gonzalez to our senior leadership team at the City of Delta,” said Mayor George Harvie. “I look forward to working with her as we strive to provide the very best parks, recreation, and culture services for the community. As we emerge from the pandemic, we are thrilled to have someone with the experience and strategic thinking attributes of Ms. Gonzalez to keep driving us forward in a service delivery area enjoyed by all of our residents.”
Gonzalez holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree from Douglas College and is currently pursuing an Executive Master’s of Business Administration degree from Simon Fraser University.
