It’s been nine years since Joan Walne was appointed to the Dallas Park Board by then-City Councilman Bill Blaydes. She continued to serve under Councilman Jerry Allen when he was elected, and when she reached her four-term limit last year, Mayor Mike Rawlings asked her to stay on another year as board president.

“I was happy to hang around,” says the long-term advocate of Dallas’ parks and recreation centers, “but you don’t want to be that person who stays too long.”

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Now, Walne has been “termed out,” she says. Allen recently appointed Robin Norcross to fill the vacancy left by Walne, and Norcross has moved from her Landmark Commission spot, which she held for roughly seven years, to the Park Board. Her first official Park Board meeting will be this Thursday.

Norcross says she hopes to “continue to be an advocate for the city and, in particular, District 10.” She mentions that one of her specific areas of interest is the work that needs to be done on trails. In Lake Highlands, which has a number of projects coming down the pike, there has been “money there for nine years, so hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later,” Norcross says.

Norcross also asked us to remind everyone that it’s not too late to sign up for this Saturday’s It’s My Park Day event; sign up here.

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