Board of Commissioners & Meetings

The Portage Park District has been very fortunate since its inception to have high-quality leaders to serve as Park Commissioners. The Board of Commissioners of the Park District is appointed by the County Probate Court Judge. The five members of the Board oversee the Executive Director and are responsible for setting policy, developing rules and regulations and approving the budget. They serve as volunteers for a renewable 3-year term.

Regular Board meetings are open to the public and are held at the Morgan Park Operations Center Community Room located at 8505 Nicodemus Rd. Ravenna, OH 44266

Any changes to the location or format of the meeting will be noted below. For more information call 330-297-7728 or email admin@portageparkdistrict.org.

2026 Meetings:

2025 Meetings:

2024 Meetings:

2023 Meetings:

2022 Meetings:

  
See the Record-Courier legal ad section for any changes to meeting times

• Portage Park District Board of Commissioners Bylaws

Meet Your Park Board

	Name/Email	Description
	Judge Patricia Smith	Portage County Probate Judge Patricia Smith selects and appoints Portage Park District Commissioners to serve on the Portage Park District Board of Commissioners.
	Thomas Hrdy	Tom is retired from Portage County Department of Job and Family Services and is a licensed social worker.  He enjoys gardening, bee keeping, hiking and is an avid outdoorsman.
	Allan Orashan	Allan is a realtor who brings decades of land transaction and property management expertise to the park district, as well as serving on the Regional Planning Commission and as a board member of local non-profit organizations.
	Renee Ruchotzke	Renee is an organizational development professional specializing in building community and deepening relationships to the natural world. She and her husband own a 100 acre regenerative farm, and also "farm" their small city lot using permaculture practices to grow hundreds of pounds of produce. She is an ordained community minister, affiliated with the UU Church of Kent. She serves on several other Portage County boards, including the League of Women Voters, the Kent Environmental Council, and the Portage County NAACP. Before being called to ministry, she spent 20 years as a mechanical design engineer and project manager.
	Kurt Ruehr	Kurt is an independent consultant providing fractional CFO services to small organizations. Kurt has shared his passion for Portage Parks for many years, serving in several capacities on the Portage Park District Foundation, emceeing at the Environmental Conservation Awards Dinner, and being an ambassador for conservation in Portage County.
	Karen Wise	Karen recently retired from a 30-year career as a wetlands scientist, project manager and environmental consulting business leader, most recently as Vice President of Davey Resource Group. Wise has served on the boards of Keep Ohio Beautiful, PARTA, and the Ravenna Shade Tree Commission. She has volunteered for the American Red Cross, Western Reserve Land Conservancy, and the Portage Park District Foundation’s Annual Environmental Conservation Awards Event.