In advance of today’s town hall meetings, the City of Austin is pleased to present two finalists for the Parks and Recreation Department’s Assistant Director in charge of city-wide programming. These finalists bring skills and experience that align with the City of Austin’s strategic direction and will help the department create community through Austin’s parks and recreation system.

The finalists are Therron Wade Dieckmann and Lucas Massie.

Austinites that are interested in learning more about the finalists are invited to attend a town hall meeting.  There will be two opportunities to attend, where stakeholders will learn about the hiring process and the candidates, and then have an opportunity to provide feedback to the hiring manager.

The Assistant Director will serve under the Director of PARD. They will plan, direct, and manage the functions and programs of a multi-disciplinary parks and recreation system. The Assistant Director will be responsible for service operations, budgets, personnel, and management for community recreation centers, senior centers, adaptive recreation, nature-based programming, forestry, outreach programming, athletics, cultural arts, and museums.

The town hall meetings will take place on Jan. 16, 2020 at the following locations and times:

Zilker Botanical Garden Auditorium, Noon

2220 Barton Springs Rd, Austin, TX 78746

Parking fee waived for attendees

Conley Guerrero Senior Center, 6:30 p.m.

808 Nile St, Austin, TX 78702

Candidate Bios:

Therron Wade Dieckmann is a Certified Parks and Recreation Executive (CPRE) with almost 20 years progressively responsible experience in parks, recreation and community services, including the last 12 years in a director capacity.  He is one of only 279 CPRE in the nation as recognized by the National Recreation and Park Association.  After growing up in a small farming community in Illinois, he earned a bachelor's degree in Forestry from University of Illinois.  Next he studied Parks and Recreation Administration and Sport Management en route to earning a master's degree from Western Illinois University.  Since then, his career has taken him from the Midwest to Colorado to California.

Mr. Dieckmann has held positions at almost every level of parks and recreation.  From part-time/seasonal to programming, management and administration.  He has worked in small, medium and large agencies.  From small town to city to rapidly growing, densely populated and diverse urban environments.  He has experience in a broad range of parks and recreation areas.  Some of these include recreation programming, aquatics and waterpark management, cultural arts including amphitheater and indoor venues, senior services, special events, rec centers, personnel and volunteer management, park operations, and project management.  He has family in Austin, and is excited about the opportunity to join the great staff serving the City of Austin.

Lucas Massie is currently the Acting Assistant Director for the Programs Area of the Austin Parks and Recreation Department.  He has served in this capacity for 24 months.  Prior to that, Mr. Massie has 18 years of total experience working with the Austin Parks and Recreation Department, beginning as a Recreation Program Specialist in south Austin.  He then worked as a Site Supervisor at Northwest Recreation Center, Program Manager for central and east Austin, and finally as Division Manager over Community Recreation. 

In addition to his experience working in the profession of recreation, Mr. Massie has a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Texas at Austin in the field of Youth and Community Studies.  In addition, Mr. Massie has a Master of Education degree from the University of Texas at Austin in the field of Sports Management.  Mr. Massie is a Certified Parks and Recreation Professional with the National Recreation and Parks Association and a graduate of their Director School Program.  

Mr. Massie resides here in Austin with his wife, Kassie.  They enjoy taking in the live music in Austin, playing sports, and they both work hard as public servants to make a difference in the Austin community.

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