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Washington council hires park administrator

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Washington City Council hired a new Washington Park administrator, who will be starting July 19.

DeAnna Martin, a Washington native who’s lived in South Carolina the last 13 years, was hired during a June 10 council meeting at an hourly rate of $33.33 per hour. Councilman Joe Manning said the money for the position was budgeted and will come from the general fund.

The vision for establishing the position was to find an administrator who is “not only knowledgeable about the park, but someone who will be able to promote and market it, too,” said Lynn Galluze, the city’s computer systems coordinator.

“It’s sort of a blank canvas,” Galluze said. “She grew up here and knows the area. When we asked her what was her vision for the park, she had a lot of good ideas for what she’d like to see.”

Some of those ideas include bringing back programs that Martin remembers impacting her life when she was young. She remembers playing softball in the park, summer camps with activities where the ice rink stood and afternoons in the pool, which has been closed for repairs two years in a row.

“I grew up in Washington, and my family is there,” Martin said. “I have been gone for a while, and I have a great job here, but this is full circle. I’ve been serving other communities for most of my life, and I think it’s time for me to come home and serve in my community, especially since I know how great the park and its resources were for me as a kid.”

In high school and college, Martin worked at the ice rink, was a lifeguard at the pool and eventually became the pool manager. She attended Robert Morris University and California University of Pennsylvania, where she studied parks and recreation.

She spent 10 years as a teacher in Myrtle Beach, and for the past three years has worked for the National Beta Club in Spartanburg, S.C. Martin said she has experience not just with teaching, but with fundraising and writing grants, and she wants to use that to improve the park.

“The park is a huge natural resource,” she said. “Outdoor recreation is so important not only for our kids but our adults. Why aren’t we having activities in every season out there?”

Martin said she was recently in town for a funeral when she heard about the position opening up. She took a drive through the park.

“There’s just so much space out there that’s not being used or used well or being taken care of,” she said. “A comprehensive plan was developed in 2013, and none of it has been acted upon.”

A disc golf course and sand volleyball area were both part of the conversation in the comprehensive planning for the park, Martin said. They were never achieved. Martin also mentioned wanting to see more ADA accessible playgrounds and areas in the park.

“There are so many things we could be doing that are not happening – things that could be inclusive for everybody. I’m really excited.”

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