Q&A
What inspired you to pursue a career in parks and recreation? Back in college, I was working toward a psychology degree. My plan was to go into counseling because I wanted to work with kids. At the same time, I took a part-time job at a recreation center for the City of Mesa. I really enjoyed that environment and realized I wanted to make a di erence in people’s lives in a di erent way. Once I got into parks and recreation and saw the positive impact you can make, I thought, this is a really cool career — you get to wake up, go to work, and do positive things every day . What excites you about returning to Maricopa? Maricopa is so passionate about parks and recreation. As a director, that’s exciting. People here love it, and it’s such a big part of their lives. When a community is that invested, it makes your work easier and more rewarding. You feel supported, and you have a good sense of what people want. en it’s your job to gure out how to provide it. You’re still pretty new to this role. What are some priorities you’d like to accomplish in your first year? I want to hear directly from the people who participate in our programs—what they want, where they see opportunities, and how they think we should grow. With Maricopa’s rapid growth, how does the department keep up with demand for more parks, sports fields and amenities? In parks and recreation, we have a saying: the best time to build a park was 10 years ago . Take Copper Sky, for example. It’s 11 years old now, and it was the residents who decided to invest in it back in 2014. e cost then was about $50 million. If we tried to build that same facility today, it would easily cost $150 to $200 million. at’s why we want to stay ahead of the curve. We work to engage the community, understand needs, and plan accordingly. Maricopa has a lot of young families, but also a growing retiree population. So we have to think carefully about how to allocate resources — creating something for everyone while staying ahead of the city’s growth.
I t’s been nearly a decade since Rocky Brown last walked the grounds of a Maricopa park in an o cial capacity. A er years of leadership in Gilbert’s parks and recreation department, he’s back in Maricopa — this time as Parks and Recreation director. Brown previously served the city as a youth coordinator and recreation manager before moving on to Gilbert, where he worked as a business operations manager and assistant director. Now, he’s returned to lead the department through Maricopa’s next chapter of growth. He sat down with InMaricopa to talk about his career path, his vision for local recreation programs, and his take on the NBC sitcom that made city parks famous. Rocky returns The city’s new Parks and Recreation director talks growth, community needs and why the sitcom Parks and Recreation hits close to home BY MONICA D. SPENCER
InMaricopa.com | October 2025
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