At the county parks department, a new order begins to shape up.

On the surface, it may appear the Monterey County Parks Department is in disarray, but behind the scenes, a new order is shaping up.

After former county parks director Mark Mariscal left his position in July – after serving in the role only 17 months – the department was absorbed into the county’s Resource Management Agency on an interim basis.

On Dec. 1, the county Parks Commission voted to recommend making that change permanent, and the county Board of Supervisors will consider the recommendation Dec. 13.

If approved by the supervisors, the change will solidify many added efficiencies to what has become a chronically understaffed, underfunded department.

A recent hire has also helped: After Mariscal left, RMA Director Carl Holm, who is overseeing county parks, brought on Cam Sanchez – a longtime police chief in Santa Barbara – to get the de facto department back on track. His official title is county parks executive management specialist.

“I’m not much for titles,” Sanchez says. “I just consider myself a parks guy.”

Sanchez restarted the momentum to implement the county parks 2015 strategic plan, an effort that involves getting the ball rolling to develop specific plans for each of the county’s eight parks. The first meeting to that end was Dec. 6, and Sanchez says King City’s San Lorenzo Park is first on the list.

Among the changes already in motion: getting bilingual signage in San Lorenzo Park’s agricultural museum. After a career as a law enforcement officer, Sanchez has also been working with rangers to help stop the ongoing illegal trail-building by mountain bikers in Toro Park.

“Illegal trails are something we take very seriously,” Sanchez says. “It shouldn’t be happening.”