Sonoma's New Parks & Rec Department: How This Impacts Your Community

Created in 2025 and funded by Measure T, the City's first-ever Parks and Recreation Department is behind this summer's camps, swim days, and Plaza events. Here's who's running it and what it's working on.

If a "Recreation & Activities Guide" landed in your mailbox or inbox this summer, you may have noticed the word inaugural on the cover. That's not a small detail. For the first time, the City of Sonoma has a department whose whole job is parks, recreation, and community life — and this summer is its first full season.

Here's a plain look at what changed, who's behind it, and why it matters for how you spend your time around town.

What actually changed

For years, the work of caring for Sonoma's parks and running community programs was spread across other parts of City government. In 2025, the City pulled those pieces together into a single Parks and Recreation Department, made possible in part by Measure T, the half-cent sales tax Sonoma voters approved in 2024.

The new department brought together staff who had previously worked under Public Works and City Administration. Instead of being scattered, parks maintenance, recreation programs, special events, public art, and cemetery operations now sit under one roof.

That roof is a familiar one: the historic Carnegie Building at 453 First Street East, just off the Plaza.

Who's running it

The City hired Dave Jahns as its first Parks and Recreation Director. He started in August 2025, coming from St. Helena, where he served as Director of Community Services, with earlier roles in Healdsburg, Cupertino, and Burlingame.

"Dave brings both extensive parks experience and a partnership-driven mindset that fit right in with Sonoma's community spirit," City Manager David Guhin said when the hire was announced.

Jahns, for his part, framed the job around the places people already love. The new department, he said, is "an incredible opportunity to further define and highlight Parks and Recreation as part of Sonoma's vibrant community."

What the department looks after

It's a bigger portfolio than you might expect. The department oversees:

• 19 parks, trails, and preserves — more than 80 acres in all
• Three municipal cemeteries, including historic Mountain Cemetery
• Special events and the City's recreation programming
• The Public Art Program and cultural initiatives
• Stewardship of public spaces, including the historic Sonoma Plaza

It also staffs two community bodies: the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Commission and the Cultural and Fine Arts Commission.

Why it matters this summer

The most visible result is the guide itself — and the programs inside it. New this year, the City partnered with the National Academy of Athletics to launch youth sports camps at the Field of Dreams, with scholarships available. The season's free community swim days at Sonoma SPLASH, the summer events on the Plaza, and the camps run by local partners all now run through this one department's coordination.

Sonoma has always leaned on a network of nonprofits, educators, and cultural groups to bring programs to life. That hasn't changed. What's new is having a City department whose job is to connect those pieces — and to plan what comes next, from a Parks Master Plan to improvements at the Plaza.

Worth Knowing Before You Go

A parks department is the kind of thing that's easy to overlook until you notice how often you use what it touches: a morning on the Overlook Trail, a kid's swim lesson, a Tuesday evening at the market, a quiet walk through Mountain Cemetery. Sonoma has done all of that for a long time. Now there's a department whose job is to keep it going — and to ask the community what it wants more of.

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Sources: City of Sonoma press release (July 23, 2025) and the City's Recreation & Activities Guide — Summer 2026; Measure T reporting via the Sonoma Index-Tribune and Sonoma Valley Sun.