John Colter Chisum
Newbury Park,USA
Summary
- To assist the General Services Agency Director with any aspects of management needed to optimize the success of envisioning and executing the Agency’s mission
- To professionally apply leadership, management, community engagement, and business techniques to effectively support a diverse and multidisciplinary staff to provide safe and sustainable service delivery to the people of Ventura County
Overview
32
32
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Ventura County Parks Department Director
Ventura County General Services Agency
05.2020 - Current
- Led strategic initiatives to enhance departmental efficiency and effectiveness across multiple teams.
- Developed and implemented policies to streamline operations and improve service delivery.
- Mentored junior staff, fostering professional growth and enhancing team capabilities.
- Analyzed departmental performance metrics, identifying areas for improvement and implementing solutions.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to align objectives and drive organizational goals.
- Oversaw budget management, ensuring resource allocation met departmental needs and priorities.
- Increased department efficiency by streamlining processes and implementing new technologies.
- Oversaw the successful completion of major projects, ensuring they were delivered on time and within budget.
- Managed relationships with key stakeholders, fostering trust and collaboration between departments and external partners.
- Promoted a culture of excellence within the department by setting high standards for performance and consistently recognizing outstanding achievements.
- Evaluated department performance metrics to identify areas for improvement and implement necessary changes.
Chief of Facilities Management (GS-0810-13-8) – 40hrs/wk
Santa Monica Mountains Nation Recreation Area
10.2014 - Current
- This position supervises a diverse staff of up to 17 full time and up to 10 seasonal employees who provide engineering, landscape architecture, project management, contract management, asset management, budget planning, funding requests, condition assessments, and operation support for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SAMO). SAMO has an asset portfolio of $157M that includes 86 buildings, 132 trail heads, 200 miles of trail, 3 dams, and many maintained landscapes, interpretive media, and other assets. The position manages an annual budget of $1.4M in ONPS base as well as an additional $2M in special projects and reimbursable accounts. Additionally, I serve as a member of the park management team where I make priority and strategy recommendations for the $12M park budget. I manage all work through multidisciplinary staff, partnership agreements and a myriad of contracts. I lead coordination for project and park function through regional, WASO and Denver Service Center staff as well as partnerships with other parks. I serve as the lead for adherence to all of my division’s administrative functions including workforce development, employee relations, EEO, staffing and recruitment, FMSS, park environmental audit, fire & building code, performance management and more. I have a strong history of successfully recruiting and developing a diverse multidisciplinary staff. I work to manager work expectation and provide quality control for facilities work and hold staff, partners, and contractors accountable for assigned work. I have accomplished a wide range of projects that had been stalled due to controversy, lack of funding, lack of consensus, and/or lack of clarity of vision or understand of complex processes that cross all levels of our agency.
- Key individual accomplishments, projects & roles include:
- Roles:
- Facilities lead for CHIS TMAP 2019
- Facilities lead for PEFO TMAP team October 2019
- Facilities lead for NEPE TMAP team May 2018
- Region Liaison for Youth Development and Programs 2019
- Member Chair for Pacific West Region Facilities Advisory Committee 2015-2020
- Frequently Acts for SAMO Deputy Superintendent or Superintendent when incumbents are out of town (2016-present)
- Envisioned, created and managed capital project including:
- $29M - Woolsey Fire Reconstruction Plan - I lead development of the damage assessment and reconstruction vision. Developed 7 year reconstruction plan
- $900K - La Kretz Center for Conservation Science Campus Redevelopment
- $843K - Paramount Ranch Site & Visitor Amenity Improvements
- $515K - Peter Strauss Ranch Visitor & ADA Improvements
- $250K - Visitor & Site Improvements to Western Santa Monica Mountain Trailheads.
- Co-developed long term area planning for CX Ranch with Nature Bridge.
- Co-developed short term lease program.
- Manage strategy and work plan for cultural work with Network Historic Preservation Crew.
- Developed 40 project funding requests with success securing funding for over $6.5M in capital project funds.
- Envisioned and established new agreements with Trust for Public Lands, Northeast Trees, Los Angeles Conservation Corp, UCLA, California Conservation Corps, and SAMO Fund.
- Increased youth and volunteer hours by 200%.
- Wrote the park Structural Fire Management Plan and service as the park Structure Fire Coordinator.
- Successful obligation of 30 special projects and service contracts with a 100% obligation rate annually.
- Completion of Rock Oaks Dam Emergency Action Plan and hosted inter-agency disaster table top exercise which include representative from NOAA, City of Malibu, PWR staff, State Park staff, and Bureau of Reclamation staff.
- Developed strategic relationships with and influenced park business with MRCA, LADWP, Ventura County, City of Malibu Public Works, State Parks, Santa Monica Mountains Fund, LVWMD, Heal the Bay, National Parks Foundation, COSCA and many others.
- Served as voting member for the NPS on the LVWMD $100M Reclaimed Water Project.
- Hosted four inter-divisional design workshops and four employee work days.
- Provided event support to large park events with up to 3,000 participants.
- Development and execution of the annual work plan used in the Facilities Division..
- Leverage over 2,000 hours in free labor using conscripted labor services.
- Employ and develop over 50 youth on park projects using various land corps entities.
Branch Chief for Design, Engineering and Asset Management (GS-0810-13) – 45hrs/wk
Yosemite National Park
01.2008 - 10.2014
- This position supervised a diverse staff of 10 full time and 2 seasonal employees who provide engineering project management, contract management, asset management, budget planning, funding requests, condition assessments, and technical operation support for the Facilities Management Division (FMD) in Yosemite National Park. Yosemite’s asset portfolio has a $3.2B value and includes 26 water systems, 22 wastewater systems, 500 miles of trail, 250 lane-miles of road, 1287 buildings and quarters, and many maintained landscapes, interpretive media, and other assets. I managed the branch budget that averages $1M annually in operations and $2M-$5M for projects. Additionally, as a member of the FMD management team I made priority and strategy recommendations for the $28M divisional budget. These are complex budgets that are comprised of ONPS base, Cyclic, YCC, Repair/Rehab, Line Item, Equipment Replacement, donations, housing reimbursable, utility reimbursable and other fund sources. Core engineering duties included leading in-house design, in-house surveying, project management, A/E contract management, construction contract management, contract negotiations, compliance management (NEPA, NHPA, wilderness MRAs, WSRA, etc.), estimating, development and management of project budgets, facility condition assessment, lead weekly safety meetings, provide storm/ incident damage assessments, and liaison functions. Core asset management duties included management of the Facilities Management Software System (FMSS), FMSS SOP and business practice development, FMSS training and access control, FBMS transition implementation, park-wide work order creation, Customer Service Desk operation (CSD receives all facilities work request for the park), FMSS QA/QC, asset priority index (API) scoring, assess current replacement value (CRV) estimating, component renewal planning, management team and park employee oriented presentations, preventative maintenance planning, and provide annual and quarterly asset reports for FMD shops and division. I served on the FMD management team, am a selected member of the park management team, serve as the park’s Repair/Rehab program manager, and also sit as contributing member of the sustainability team. Frequent acting duties include Chief of Facilities Management, and CFI account committee voting member. I have served as park engineer during significant incidents including the Ferguson Rock Slide, Telegraph Fire, Big Meadows Fire, Motor Fire, Hantavirus outbreak, Rim Fire, and numerous other large scale weather or facility outage events. In these events I made hour by hour park decisions, summarize and estimate damages, provide status, develop support requests, and initiate any other communications. Additionally, in this role I have regularly communicated, negotiated, and collaborated issues with a wide variety of park staff, park partners, gateway communities, incident command teams, higher ranking government officials, regulators (OIG, OSHA, EPA, etc.), and other park stake holders for many complex issues like Half Dome cables, Roundhouse construction, solid waste diversion, San Francisco water, and many others.
Civil Engineer/ Project Manager (GS-0810-12) – 45hrs/wk
Yosemite National Park
10.2005 - 01.2008
- Duties included project management and civil engineering design and support for facility management projects for Yosemite National Park. Responsibilities include guiding projects through the entire NPS project life cycle including project conceptualization, FMSS work order input, PMIS funding request and cost estimating, preliminary in-house or contracted design, PEPC process and NEPA compliance (CATEX, EA), final in-house or contracted design, contracting, construction and project close-out. Project scope included well and water treatment replacement, water distribution system improvements, wastewater treatment upgrades, wastewater collection improvements, facility demolition, lift station replacement, road repair, building repair, seismic upgrades, accessibility improvements, new building installation, storm damage repair, etc. Key projects include Glacier Point Wastewater Treatment Upgrade, Abbeville Lift Station Replacement, Arch Rock Water System Replacement, Hodgdon Meadow Duplex construction, Hodgdon Meadow Water Treatment Facility Replacement, Vogelsang Utility Improvements, Mather R2K Septic System Improvements, Half Dome Cables Structural Analysis, Glen Aulin Utility Improvements, Wawona Campground Road Overlay, Bridalveil Creek Campground Double Chip Seal, Tamarack Campground Road Repair, Glacier Point Water System Improvement, EP Garage Lighting Replacement, and various accessibility and other small projects.
Junior Project Manager – 50hrs/wk
High Country Engineering
03.2003 - 08.2005
- Core work included planning, design, design oversight, and construction support for many residential subdivisions and commercial land development projects and parks 330 acres with construction budgets as large as $250 million. I received company promotions through the Design Engineer, Project Engineer, and Junior Project Manager positions. Job duties included proposal writing, work delegation, project management, project supervision, project scheduling, service agreements, issuing invoices, design mentoring, bid coordination, construction inspections, construction engineering, review agency correspondence and direct client interaction. Key design experience includes park design, sanitary sewer collection systems up to 30” at 54’ deep, storm sewer networks and drainage plans/reports (large and small basis), flood assessment and analysis, two jurisdictional dams, large box culverts (several with over 1400 cfs), grading, erosion control plans, superelvated roadway design, large roadway intersections design, highway geometric design, detention ponds, water quality and detention outlet structures, remote access roadways, gas well pads, commercial site geometry, plot plans, grade certs, and construction staking.
- Highlight Project Include:
- Beacon Point Subdivision 1, 2, 3, Community Center and CC School Lot Aurora, CO
- Cross Creek Subdivision 1 & 2 Aurora, CO
- Revenna Golf Course and Subdivision Douglas County, CO
- Coyote Run Subdivision Mead, CO
- Bromley Park Platte River Diversion Brighton, CO
- Elk Horn Ranch Subdivision Parker, CO
Design Engineer – 45hrs/wk
Futura Engineering, Inc
01.2002 - 03.2003
- Design work included sketch plans, preliminary plans, re-zoning plans, property exchange plans and plats, condo plats, multifamily plats, drainage design, construction document development, waterline alignments and profiles, sewer line alignments and profiles, storm sewer and roadway plan and profiles, highway geometric design, sight distance calculations, cost estimates, construction standards variance reports, assistance with boundary surveys, ALTA/ASCM surveys, complex earthwork calculations, and site research documentation. Over 2000 hours were spent using AutoCAD and all of the design components for the Land and Civil Desktops. Use of MathCAD, Timekeeper, Veritas back-up, and all Microsoft Office applications were also performed. I was selected to work on the large project group and took on managing the IT service contract and would recommend acquisition of hard ware and software as well as manage the data back-up system. Significant projects include River Canyon, an 18-hole golf course with adjacent 249 lot subdivision and Potomac Farms, a 196 lot subdivision.
Restaurant Manager – 32 hrs/wk
Cozola’s Pizza
05.2000 - 12.2001
- Duties included a full range of responsibilities for restaurant management including supervision, purchasing, book keeping and ability to perform all technical functions. Supervision ranged from 6 to 12 employees including drivers, kitchen, cashier, and wait staff. I started as a dishwasher and delivery driver and worked up through all positions up to manager in less than one year.
Maintenance Worker – 40 hrs/wk
Pebble Hills Apartments
06.1993 - 07.1999
- Duties included a wide range of building and grounds services. Grounds work included mowing, edging, minor landscaping, weed management, trash and debris clean-up, tennis court surfacing, fencing installation, and other minor project work. Building work included apartment rehabilitation and turn over, interior and exterior painting, wall patching, replacing and repairing fixtures and appliances, hanging doors and cabinets, as well as other miscellaneous jobs. I started as a laborer and worked for various permanent staff and was promoted to work leader on my last two seasons. In this role I would perform work on my own and directed work for up to three employees.
Education
B.S. - Civil Engineering
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO07.2001
Skills
- Customer relationship management
- Schedule management
- Safety planning
- Project management
- Staff development
- Program implementation
- Budget development
- Performance optimization
- Budget administration
- Innovation management
- Customer service
- Problem-solving
Certification
- Professional Engineer (P.E.); Licensed in the State of California as a Civil Engineer, #C 71718 2007-Present
- Facility Manger Leaders Program Graduate (FMLP) 2013-2014
- LEED Green Associate 2013
Training
- FMLP – Class of 2014 2013-2014
- Yosemite Leadership Academy; 184 contact hours 2009-2012
- LEED Green Associate Training; 16 contact hours 2012
- COTR Training (Intro, Advanced, A/E); 136 contact hours Multiple
- Supervisor Training (Intro, Advanced, Leading People); 56 contact hours Multiple
- Exit Strategies: Managing Human Waste in the Wild; 30 contact hours 2010
- Situational & Operational Leadership (Safety Training); 24 contact hours 2009
- Accessibility Training; 40 contact hours 2007
- Professional Engineering Exam Prep; 42 contact hours plus 126 self study hours 2007
- PMP Training; 56 contact hours 2006
- Street Hydraulics & Storm Sewer System Design (CU Denver); 32 contract hours 2005
VOLUNTEER WORK & RECOGNITION
- Newbury Park Pony Baseball (NPPB) Executive Board– Bronco Division Director 2019-Present
- Youth Sports Coach (13 teams as manager or assistant) 2017-Present
- Baseball – Manager for 4 teams & Assistant for 6 teams
- Soccer – Manager for 2 teams
- Flag Football – Manager 1 team
- Misc. Annual Volunteer Work (Schools, NPPB Ops, Trail work (140hrs/yr) 2018-Present
Timeline
Ventura County Parks Department Director
Ventura County General Services Agency
05.2020 - Current
Chief of Facilities Management (GS-0810-13-8) – 40hrs/wk
Santa Monica Mountains Nation Recreation Area
10.2014 - Current
Branch Chief for Design, Engineering and Asset Management (GS-0810-13) – 45hrs/wk
Yosemite National Park
01.2008 - 10.2014
Civil Engineer/ Project Manager (GS-0810-12) – 45hrs/wk
Yosemite National Park
10.2005 - 01.2008
Junior Project Manager – 50hrs/wk
High Country Engineering
03.2003 - 08.2005
Design Engineer – 45hrs/wk
Futura Engineering, Inc
01.2002 - 03.2003
Restaurant Manager – 32 hrs/wk
Cozola’s Pizza
05.2000 - 12.2001
Maintenance Worker – 40 hrs/wk
Pebble Hills Apartments
06.1993 - 07.1999
B.S. - Civil Engineering
Colorado State University
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