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Staff Directory
Your Parks & Recreation Team:
Tom Teigen, Parks Director: 30 years spent in Parks and Recreation and Economic Development, more than 13 years have been in key leadership, senior management and director positions. Of those 30 years, 5 years were spent in Waukegan, Illinois, 4 years in Shoreline and King County Parks. Tom has lived and worked in Lynnwood, Edmonds, Mill Creek, and Monroe. He grew up in Lynnwood and attended Seattle Pacific University, earning a B.A. in Recreation Administration.
Snohomish County is blessed with incredible human, physical and community resources and assets. I am dedicated to the credo that “good government is a function of effective partnerships and empowered communities”, and you will frequently hear me ask “are we having fun yet?”
The field of parks and recreation is both dynamic and demanding. Effective leaders in our profession are called to be change agents with skill sets in human resources, economic development, resource/facility management, strategic planning, public affairs, public/private partnerships and community building. We employ these skills while inspiring team members, safeguarding the public trust and navigating the bureaucracy of a governmental entity.
Dianne Bailey, Park Property Administrator: Dianne Bailey began her property management career with the Chelan County Assessor’s office in 1984 and joined Snohomish County Parks in 1991. She attended Southern Oregon College, is a licensed appraiser, and a Senior Member of the International Right of Way Association. Snohomish County has recognized her for her outstanding customer service. Dianne enjoys horseback riding, camping, and traveling. She lives near the town of Snohomish, and is the proud keeper of 2 horses, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and a husband.
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Kay Akerlund, Capital Fund Analyst: Kay grew up and still resides in the beautiful city of Lake Stevens, Washington. She is the 4th generation to live there, only leaving for a short time during college to California on an exchange program. Kay attended Seattle Pacific University graduating with a B.A. in Business Administration in 1980.
Kay started at the County as accounting extra help in 1987 and accepted a full-time position with the Parks Dept in January, 1989 as an Accounting Technician. She has worked her way through the accounting section to her current position as Capital Funds Fiscal Analyst. She works the majority of her time on budget and contract administration for the Parks Construction Fund. She works closely with the contracts, planning, and program/marketing sections as well as manages the accounting section. She loves the close-knit and energetic parks & fairgrounds family. They all like to have fun in their jobs. How can they help it, though, when they have a beautiful office in a park setting and manage some of the most beautiful parks in Snohomish County. She loves to travel and see the parks & sites that the world has to offer, but it makes her realize how beautiful Washington is. Snohomish County Parks is currently working on building some spectacular new parks. Come visit and enjoy.
Russ Bosanko, Contracts, Capital Projects and Land Management Division Manager: I started my career in the Parks and Recreation Field as a baseball scorekeeper for the City of Kent, Washington in 1971. After graduating from High School I joined the Army and spent three (3) years at the United States Disciplinary Barracks (military prison). No, I was not an inmate but a Physical Activities Specialist where I was in charge of the grounds crew who maintained the 10 acre recreation field and gymnasium, and was the basketball and weightlifting coach. While in the Army I attended KCKCJC (Kansas City Kansas Community Junior College) taking Therapeutic Recreation classes but graduating with a general AA Degree.
After leaving Kansas I attended Western Washington University and graduated with a BA in Parks and Recreation Management. Since there were no Parks jobs available I spent the next six (6) months framing houses in Boise, Idaho.
As soon as the cold weather arrived I came to my senses and moved back to Washington (and the rain) where I was hired by King County as a Recreation Leader and then became a Recreator (yes, I got paid to recreate!), Recreation Coordinator, Recreation Supervisor, Recreation Coordinator/Special Projects, Project Manager II, Project Manager III/Contract Administrator. After 27 years, 12 work sites, and 14 Parks Directors with King County, I started a new career with Snohomish County on October 1, 2007. Here at Snohomish County Parks, I have been blessed to work with dedicated, professional park staff that take a great deal of pride in providing the cleanest and safest parks for the citizens of Snohomish County.
Margaret Kennedy, Accounts Payable: Margaret is in her 13th year of Accounts Payable for the Parks Department. A BBA from the University of Oregon, and a variety of prior office jobs gave a good base for this position. Margaret says the working for Parks is the best place to be, paying bills for things that enhance our Parks, and provide a great community environment.
James Yap, ASLA, Principal Park Planner:
After graduating from University of Pennsylvania in the Landscape Architecture master program, James worked for the National Park Service in the Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland as an intern. He upgraded the sign system and created the park's master plan. He then worked for a private city planning and landscape architectural firm in Princeton, New Jersey, working on cityscapes and planning before joining Central Park Administration in New York City. After receiving his Landscape Architect registration James joined a team of other Landscape Architects, to work on rebuilding Central Park (5 years in design and over four years in construction).
After James and his family moved to Seattle and there was a down-turn in the field of Landscape Architecture, James took a job as a barista and eventually began working for a design-build landscaping company. Wanting to get back into historic preservation of parks/landscapes and master planning of large scale park projects, James restarted his career in the field he enjoys most as Snohomish County Parks' landscape planner.
Sharon Swan, CPSS, Sr. Park Planner:
Sharon Swan is a Senior Park Planner for the Snohomish County Parks Department. After having raised herself out of the rough street environment of Ballard, she attended college at WSU and earned a Bachelor of Soil Science degree. Armed with her degree and a love of dirt, Sharon moved into full-time employment with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), with whom she had been employed as a Student Trainee while in college. Sharon worked for NRCS for seven years, filling several different positions and leaving for two years to complete a Master’s Degree in Crop Production and Physiology at Iowa State University.
In 2003 Sharon made the leap from the agricultural arena to park planning and has been involved with many of the County’s natural parks as well as Community Park development, development of the Parks Comprehensive Plan, coordination with other County departments and graphics. Sharon enjoys gardening, spoiling her dogs, and embarrassing her children.
Marc Krandel, Park Planner:
Marc was born and raised in Chicago. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Illinois in Chicago and graduate work at Antioch University in Seattle. He has taught school on the elementary and college levels, pursued a first career in community mental health centers as an administrator, trainer and counselor. He started his planning career with the City of Seattle as a neighborhood planner and community organizer. He worked and supervised at the Snohomish County Planning Department specializing in community and economic development, housing and grant administration. He moved to the Parks Department where he has held the position of planning supervisor focusing on citizen involvement, comprehensive planning, grantsmanship, capital improvement planning, financing, contracting and project administration.
Marc and his wife have operated a wholesale perennial plant business for over 25 years. He is a good cook, a fair guitarist, a decent carpenter, an avid reader, an art enthusiast and a focused horticulturalist.
Hal Gausman, Deputy Director
Fairgrounds Manager and Capital Resource Manager:
Hal Gausman came to us from the Everett Parks Department in 2008 where he served in a number of different capacities (Special Projects Manager, Assistant Director and Development Construction Supervisor). Previous to that he worked as a Landscape Architect, owner/operator of his own design and construction company, Golf Course Superintendent and the list goes on. Hal also holds degrees in Horticulture and Landscape Architecture and graduate courses that extend into environmental stewardship/restoration, sustainable park practices, volunteer management and community visioning/planning
Tony Trofimczuk, Recreation Supervisor:
Parks and recreation are an important part of Tony’s life and he has a strong commitment to the field. For the past eighteen years, Tony has enjoyed providing fun, health, creative, constructive opportunities for individuals and families by volunteering, coaching and managing recreation programs for the cities of Kirkland, Bellingham, and Lynnwood. He sees the individual and community benefits that come from participating in parks and recreation programs on a daily basis.
Tony’s a graduate of Seattle Pacific University and has been recognized for excellence by NRPA and WRPA. He holds certifications as an Instructor Trainer of Water Safety and Lifeguard Training, CPR for Professional Rescuer, Advanced First Aid, Safety Training for Coaches, Professional Ski School Instructor, White Water Rafting Guide, and US Sailing Small Boat Instructor.
If it can be can hit, kicked, jumped, smashed, dinked, dunked, struck, shredded, or paddled, Tony’s done it, taught it, coached it, or watched it on TV.
Tom Murdoch, Sr. Naturalist
Tom Murdoch is an ecologist who has been roaming around Northwest streams for the last 30 years. Along the way, he founded and became the Executive Director of the Adopt-A-Stream Foundation…its mission is “to teach people how to become stewards of their watersheds.”
Over the years, Tom and his team of ecologist, technicians and many volunteer Streamkeeper Academy instructors taught thousands of students (young and old) from throughout the Pacific Northwest how to become Streamkeepers. He co-authored the popular book Streamkeeper’s Field Guide: Watershed Inventory and Stream Monitoring Methods that is in use by stream and river groups across the U.S. and Canada; was the chief script writer of the PBS-TV show called the Streamkeeper that starred Bill Nye, “the Science Guy;” and editor of Adopting A Stream: A Northwest Handbook and Adopting A Wetland: A Northwest Guide. Tom also directed over 200 community based stream and wetland restoration projects and the mapping of fish and wildlife habitat in several watersheds around Puget Sound. In 2007, the Cascade Land Conservancy recognized those efforts with its Land Stewardship Award.
In addition to his non-profit work, Tom served Snohomish County in water resource management capacities in both its Public Works and Planning Departments. He is responsible for drafting the County’s first Drainage Regulation, the Storm Water Utility Rate Ordinance, and the Aquatic Resource Protection Program that preceded the County’s Critical Areas Ordinance. Now, he serves the Parks and Recreation Department as its first Naturalist developing interpretive programs designed to provide the public with a greater appreciation for our natural resources.
Under Tom’s direction, the Adopt-A-Stream Foundation established a partnership with the Snohomish County Parks & Recreation Department, the Tulalip Tribes, and 40 local businesses from the construction industry to build the Northwest Stream Center in Mc Collum Park. It will become the first regional environmental learning facility in the Pacific Northwest with stream and wetland ecology & fish and wildlife habitat restoration as its central themes. It is a place where 45,000 people a year will learn how to become stewards of their watersheds. You are invited to join this partnership.
Chris Mueller, RLA, Senior Park Planner:
Chris is a Registered Landscape Architect. He joined the Parks & Recreation Department in May of 2008. Chris grew up in Ypsilanti, Michigan and earned his Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Michigan State University. After graduation, Chris moved west to work for a private planning & landscape architecture firm in Seattle. While there, his work focused on habitat restoration, park planning and cultural landscape projects.
Due to family illness Chris retuned to Michigan. He worked for several design-build firms and spent three years completing parks, wetland mitigation, and habitat restoration projects with a firm in Ann Arbor. Chris later formed his own company and completed projects ranging from landscape design-build to park master plans. Additional professional experience includes prescribed burns, invasive species control, and ecological inventories. While in Michigan, Chris also served as Board Member for the City of Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority and the Depot Town Community Development Corporation.
Chris’s hobbies include playing music, snowboarding, mountain biking, and gardening.
Marcie Allen, Marketing Assistant
Marcie hails from the land of 10,000 lakes, where she grew up and enjoyed the sports of waterskiing, swimming, and ice skating. But the allure of Washington was strong, so she set sail for the coast (where summer nights were spent actually sleeping and bugs didn’t bite… …quite so much).
She began her career with the Parks department a quarter century ago, working her way up from administrative secretary to marketing and network administration. After retiring in 2011, Marcie returned to the department on a part-time basis as a marketing assistant.
Each year Marcie trades in her pocket protector for bunny ears and hops on down to the Evergreen State Fair, where she serves as Open Class Display Hall Superintendent for the Agriculture Department. She also competes in the Fair’s gardening, sewing, baking, and food preservation competitions.
As a member of the Evergreen Players, she supports the local food bank by participating in their annual Murder Mystery Benefit Dinners. She also volunteers at least once a month at the Salvation Army Soup Dinners. In addition to fishing, camping, and traveling, Marcie loves to fly in balloons, helicopters, and planes. And on occasion, jump out of them!
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