New parks commissioner appointed

Rodika Tollefson, KP News

At their February meeting, the Key Peninsula Metropolitan Park District commissioners appointed Greg Anglemyer to fill the seat vacated in late December by Paula DeMoss. Anglemyer, selected out of three applicants (one of whom subsequently withdrew), will serve until the end of 2007 and must run for re-election in November to keep the seat.

Greg Anglemyer

A relative newcomer to the Key Peninsula, Anglemyer has already been volunteering in the community as a math mentor for Communities in Schools-Peninsula and on the board of Friends of Key Center Library. He said he has been following KPMPD events in the newspaper, and when he read about the opening in the Key Peninsula News, he decided to apply.

“It seems there was some dissatisfaction… and some controversy going on. I thought, I’m a new face and come without any preconceived ideas about what’s going on,” he said.

Anglemyer’s background includes working for Boy Scouts of America and in healthcare marketing. He owned and operated a successful Tacoma inn for about a decade before retiring with his wife, Becky, to the Key Peninsula. The couple looked all over Washington, Oregon and British Columbia for a rural spot on the water. “I feel people in this area know what they like for a lifestyle, even as we grow,” he said. “Parks are part of that growth.”

Anglemyer is the second commissioner to be appointed to an unexpired seat. DeMoss’ resignation was preceded last year by the departure of Jerry Schick, who cited dissatisfaction with the district’s management practices as well as frustration over controversy brought by the commissioners’ decision to allow a stipend. DeMoss, on the other hand, said her decision was based on having to shift focus on her family and two jobs, and said she remains a park district supporter. Both DeMoss and Schick were commissioners under the now-dissolved KP Parks and Recreation District, which preceded the KPMPD.