Jason Blood, Vernon's new Director of Recreation Services. (submitted photo)

By Liam Verster

staffing is first priority

Vernon’s new recreation services director brings experience to the job

Apr 26, 2023 | 2:00 PM

The City of Vernon has a new Director of Recreation Services who is bringing decades of experience to the role.

Jason Blood has taken over the role previously held by Doug Ross who recently retired after over 40 years with the city.

Blood, originally from Nanaimo, told Vernon Matters he has been involved in sports since he was a kid, mainly swimming but also racket sports and triathlon, and attended the University of Victoria where he got a Bachelor of Arts degree and then a Bachelor of Public Sector Management degree.

From there, Blood said he went on to work for “more than a dozen different municipalities on a permanent capacity” in their Parks and Recreation departments over the past 30 years, including being a senior manager in those departments in Port Coquitlam and North Cowichan for the last 15 years.

He also spent over a decade on the board of directors for the B.C./Yukon Life Saving Society, six years on the national board of the Life Saving Society, and a zone representative for both the Recreation Facilities Association of B.C. and B.C. Recreation and Parks Association.

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Looking ahead to his new role, Blood told Vernon Matters he hopes to bring his experience to the department and “contributing to the team in terms of really trying to be as inclusive as a Recreation Department as we can, look at ways of increasing participation for all residents of the Greater Vernon area and look at ways of decreasing barriers to participation or increasing program offerings for under served demographics in the community.”

Blood also hopes to have “value-added enhancements” to contribute to the team in the short-term, but also wants to prepare Greater Vernon for population growth and the impact it will have on recreation services, pointing to the ongoing work with the Active Living Centre as an example of work being done to address that need.

“Greater Vernon Recreation does have a lot of excellent amenities already, but it’s pretty easy to see how specific areas, i.e. the current aquatics centre, doesn’t really have the capacity to meet the needs of the residents now, let alone the future,” Blood explained.

“I really see it as being an enhancement to make sure we have the spaces and the purpose-built facilities to support everyone from the big sporting events coming in to the area, to ensuring we have enough space for the little kids swimming lessons, and have many different programs and spaces to make sure we can offer that quality user experience.”

Blood will only act as a sort of advisor for the Active Living Centre project and will let the project team take the lead.

Discussing other local needs, Blood said Vernon, like may other B.C. municipalities, has low staff levels which creates a hindrance to recreation programming, and he sees that as a key priority to tackle.

“Staffing is first and foremost on my radar and agenda,” Blood told Vernon Matters.

“Making sure we have enough people from ‘soup to nuts’ to be able to offer the programs and service the public has come to expect and are looking for in the future, whether that’s access to swimming lessons or enough people to have people be registered in a timely manner or ensuring that our facilities are safe, clean and welcoming. Staffing is going to be my first big priority.”

As for taking over the role from Doug Ross, Blood said those are “big shoes to fill.”

“Doug Ross has been a leader in the overall community for decades and I’m cognizant of that, but I have felt nothing but overwhelming support from him as well as the overall team either in the Greater Vernon Recreation or the municipality itself, or from everyone that I’ve met so far,” Blood said.

Doug Ross, Vernon’s former recreation services director. (Vernon Matters file photo)

“I’m trying to meet as many of the user groups as I can, and partners in recreation, and I’ve just really been appreciative of the warm welcome and support that everybody has given me so far.”

Though it’s his first job in Vernon, Blood said he is fairly familiar with the area having visited with his family almost every summer for the past 10 years.

“When I saw the opportunity arise to be in such a wonderful community like Vernon which really has a lot of wonderful either purpose-built amenities or natural amenities, I jumped at the opportunity to come up here and work in a wonderful organization and really experience all that Vernon has to offer with the four-season lifestyle,” Blood stated.

He has been in Vernon for three weeks now and has spent most of that time exploring the city and the surrounding area to learn more about the community, amenities and opportunities. He plans to continue do activities and meet people throughout Vernon as he settles in to his new job.

Blood’s family is still in Nanaimo, as his son is in Grade 12 and wants to finish up his schooling on the Island, but he said they will be moving to Vernon in August.