Donnie Rosa exits role of Vancouver Park Board general manager

There is a major shakeup in the senior leadership of Vancouver’s municipal government, with Donnie Rosa leaving the position of the general manager of the Vancouver Park Board.

Daily Hive Urbanized has learned Rosa will be leaving the executive leadership position of the municipal government that oversees Vancouver’s parks and recreation facilities and programs. City staff were informed of their departure Monday afternoon by mass email.

They first began the role over two and a half years ago in late September 2020.

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This is the first major departure of the municipal government’s bureaucratic leadership under the ABC Vancouver party’s majority governance.

In 2022, Rosa was amongst the highest-earning employees of the City of Vancouver, earning $290,478. They replaced Malcolm Bromley, who retired in May 2020 after 10 years in the role.

Rosa was previously the director of recreation for the Vancouver Park Board for about three years, before briefly becoming the general manager of parks, recreation, and culture for the City of Coquitlam from June 2019 to September 2020.

Prior to moving to British Columbia, Rosa was the facility manager for the City of Mississauga from 1999 to 2008, and the director of recreation and culture for the City of Brampton from 2008 to 2016.

Both Rosa and the previous makeup of the Park Board’s elected leadership came under fire for their handling of the prolonged homeless encampment at Strathcona Park.

More recently, there has been controversy surrounding the temporary bike lane in Stanley Park, the continued closure of the Stanley Park miniature train, and the poor state of parks and community recreational facilities under the Park Board’s jurisdiction.

“Of Donnie’s many contributions to Vancouver and our parks and recreation system, I want to acknowledge in particular their pivotal role in the resolution of the encampment in Strathcona Park and the extensive efforts with the City and provincial agencies to support and house the individuals involved in that encampment,” reads a corporate-wide email by Vancouver city manager Paul Mochrie.

“I also appreciate Donnie’s consistent effort to foster collaboration between Park Board and other City departments, seeing us as one team, to achieve the best possible outcomes for the public.”

Steve Jackson, who is currently the Park Board’s director of business services, will serve as the acting general manager while a recruitment process is undertaken. Park Board commissioners will be involved in the upcoming search for a permanent replacement.

A formal announcement is forthcoming.

City of Vancouver leadership flow chart, 2022. (City of Vancouver)

City of Vancouver leadership team, 2022. (City of Vancouver)

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• Decades-long repair waits: 11 community centres in Vancouver in poor condition