March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 14

W E A R E P A R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N

Park District General Manager Robert Doyle
Retires After 47-Year Career

A

fter dedicating 47 years to East Bay Regional Park District
(EBRPD) in Oakland, California - including 10 years as general manager - Robert Doyle has retired, leaving many legacies that will benefit the lives of East Bay residents.
" Parks do their best when they have a great leader, and the East Bay
has had incredible leadership with Bob Doyle, " says Former Director of
National Park Service Jonathan Jarvis, who served under President Barack
Obama. " Bob is not only a visionary, but someone who can deliver on that
vision at the same time, a rare quality. "

PHOTO COURTESY OF EAST BAY REGIONAL PARK DISTRICT

During his tenure with EBRPD,
Doyle more than doubled the size
of the park district in acreage,
parks and trails. Several of his
other significant accomplishments
include garnering approval for
three former military bases closed
during the Clinton administration
to be redeveloped into the future
with publicly accessible regional
parklands; fighting a 20-year battle for environmental justice along
the Richmond, California, shoreline, including the Dotson Family
Marsh that offers access along the
bay adjacent to a predominantly Black community near Point
Pinole; closing gaps incrementally

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along the San Francisco Bay Trail
and creating the park district's
mostly contiguous Bay Trail along
the 55 miles of East Bay urban
shoreline; and increasing the park
district's connection with multicultural communities through innovative health initiatives, educational
programming and a record 10-year
sustainable revenue growth of the
Regional Parks Foundation, the
private fundraising nonprofit that
improves regional park access for
underserved communities and
communities of color.
" The landscape of the East Bay
would be significantly different if it
were not for Bob Doyle, " says former

Robert Doyle, former
general manager of East
Bay Regional Park District,
leaves many legacies that
will benefit the lives of East
Bay residents.

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Park District General Manager Pat
O'Brien. " Not only did he help create parks and preserve properties and
areas for wildlife, but he inspired other people, who took up the mantle to
advocate for open space, for legislative priorities within the district, and
to procure public access. "
Doyle was a co-leader in California's first successful statewide park
bond effort in 15 years for Proposition 68, generating $4 billion in per
capita funding for every park agency
in California. Under Doyle's leadership, the park district saw more
support from the public than ever
before with 85 percent voter approval for 2018's Measure FF to provide
additional revenues for parks. He has
successfully advocated and helped the
park district receive more than $1 billion in new revenue to pay for sorely
needed capital development at parks
and acquisition of parklands across
Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
Doyle concluded his career at the
Park District leading the agency
through one of the most challenging times in its history: the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
" COVID-19 has shown just how
essential parks are to the community's physical and mental health, "
says Doyle. " The district overcame
tremendous challenges to keep parks
open and safe for the public when
they needed them most. Our existing
partnerships with the county health
departments have been very effective
in showing that parks are essential
for health, not just recreation. I am
extremely proud of how district staff
answered the call and came to the
public's aid during this time. "
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation

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