Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District board member to step down, creating a vacancy.

Shane Anderson, vice president of Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District, announced in November that he will resign from the board in December, citing family obligations. "It's not an easy decision," he said on Nov. 5. 

Anderson has served on the board and represented Ward 2 for over a decade. In that time, he has advocated for various causes including conservation, access to natural resources, environmental education programs and environmental stewardship. 

“Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District wishes to express its profound gratitude for his decade of exemplary public service,” reads a proposed resolution the MPRPD board is set to vote on when they meet on Wednesday, Dec. 3, scheduled to be Anderson's last meeting.

During his tenure, MPRPD championed several milestones including acquiring and founding Joyce Stevens Monterey Pine Preserve, an 830-acre park that homes one the largest areas of Monterey Pine forest; advancing restoration of the former 36-hole Rancho Cañada golf course, with construction activity now underway; and long-range planning and trail work to increase public access at Palo Corona Regional Park.   

There have also been moments of controversy at MPRPD during that time, including around a cross-country race track approved at Palo Corona that had to be relocated due to conflicts with the floodplain restoration project. 

In addition, the former general manager, Rafael Payan, resigned when faced with termination by the board last year, and in July of this year, the MPRPD board hired a new general manager, Eric Morgan.

The board is set to honor Anderson at his final board meeting at 6:30pm on Dec. 3 with the resolution, and also to discuss next steps around the vacancy for the term, which lasts through 2026. 

The board can either proceed with holding a special election for the Ward 2 seat, or appoint a replacement and wait until the position is on the ballot again in November 2026 for a full term.

Ward 2 includes most of the city of Seaside. A special election is estimated to cost between $92,000 and $315,000, according to a report prepared by Tucker Wisdom-Stack, counsel to MPRPD.

As vice president, Anderson was set to assume the role of board president in 2026. Current president Kevin Raskoff noted on Nov. 5 that after holding the role for two years, he was looking for someone else to assume the role. "It is an extra workload to be sure," Raskoff said.

"We wanted some continuity these last two years," he added, noting that it had been a particularly demanding two-year period with a lot of change. 

The board agreed to "pencil in" a tentative plan to make Monta Potter the president next year and Jeff Markham the vice president.