John Dargle, Jr.

Since June 16, 2008, John Dargle, Jr., has served as director of the Fairfax County Park Authority. He currently oversees an agency which operates over 400 parks, maintains 350 miles of trail, offers diverse offerings at nine RECenters, three lakefront parks, hundreds of athletic fields as well as numerous golf courses, and honors the promise of the stewardship ethic with nature centers, estuaries and wetlands, open space and historic and archaeological sites.

The Park Authority of 2011 is a place where top performing professionals thrive at all levels. Under Director Dargle’s leadership and as a recipient of the 2010 Gold Medal Award, the highest honor available to recreational entities in the United States, the Park Authority shines brightly as a beacon of innovation and achievement. The agency is CAPRA accredited as well. This year’s visitation brought over 18 million guests to parks, nearly 3,000 volunteers who gave over 200,000 hours of service, and just under 23,000 acres of parkland under Park Authority control. Despite a difficult economic climate, the Fairfax County Park Authority continues to thrive.

Previous to employment with the Park Authority, he served as the Parks and Recreation director in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia for five years. Prior to work in Georgia he was the director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Fort Smith, Arkansas, a position he held from 2001 to 2003. Dargle also served as the park district general manager with Mecklenburg County, North Carolina from 1998 until 2001. He was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, working as a helicopter pilot. Dargle was in the military from 1988 until 1995.

He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Cortland and holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Recreation and Leisure Studies. He is a certified park and recreation professional.