{"id":287,"date":"2012-05-18T13:40:48","date_gmt":"2012-05-18T20:40:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yakimawa.gov\/media\/news\/?p=287"},"modified":"2013-03-12T13:41:59","modified_gmt":"2013-03-12T20:41:59","slug":"may-2012-city-of-yakima-issues-brief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yakimawa.gov\/media\/news\/may-2012-city-of-yakima-issues-brief\/","title":{"rendered":"May 2012 City of Yakima Issues Brief"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contact:<\/strong> Parks and Recreation Manager Ken Wilkinson \u2013 509-575-6020 \u2013 kwilkins@ci.yakima.wa.us<\/a>
\nCommunity Relations Manager Randy Beehler \u2013 509-901-1142 \u2013 rbeehler@ci.yakima.wa.us<\/a><\/p>\n

Sponsors Step Up To Help Save Outdoor Summer Cinema Series<\/h2>\n

Since it began several years ago, the Outdoor Summer Cinema Series has been a great way for people of all ages in Yakima to spend a cool summer evening enjoying a movie under the stars.\u00a0 However, due to budget constraints, the popular summertime activity, which has always been free to attend, was on the verge of being cancelled this year.<\/p>\n

Now, thanks to the generous support of local businesses, the series is scheduled to begin another run starting in July.\u00a0 Senske Lawn and Tree Care, Elliot Insurance Service, and Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center have all chipped in $600 a piece in sponsorships.<\/p>\n

Even with that support, the number of movies featured during the series has been cut in half this year and will only take place at one City park rather than rotating between two parks as it has in the past.\u00a0 Traditionally, the series included ten movies and rotated between Gilbert Park on Sundays and Randall Park on Fridays.\u00a0 This year\u2019s series will only include five movies, all of which will be shown on Sundays at Gilbert Park.<\/p>\n

Opening night for the series will be July 15th<\/sup>.\u00a0 The movie shown that night will be Puss in Boots.<\/em>\u00a0 Dolphin Tale<\/em> will be shown on July 22nd<\/sup>, followed by Hugo<\/em> on July 29th<\/sup>.\u00a0 On August 5th<\/sup>, the Adam Sandler movie Jack and Jill <\/em>will be the featured attraction.\u00a0 The final movie of the series will be The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1<\/em> on August 12th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Outdoor Summer Cinema Series movies will begin at sunset, usually around 8:30 pm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sponsorships from Senske, Elliot Insurance, and Yakima Regional will go a long toward covering licensing fees for the movies, staffing, and other costs that come with putting the series on,\u201d said Parks and Recreation Manager Ken Wilkinson.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re still working hard to find additional sponsors.\u00a0 Obviously, the more support we get from the community, the better,\u201d said Wilkinson.\u00a0 \u201cWithout it, the series likely won\u2019t survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Outdoor Summer Cinema Series is a cooperative effort of Allied Arts and Yakima Parks and Recreation.<\/p>\n

For more information about this article, contact Parks and Recreation Manager Ken Wilkinson by phone (575-6020) or by e-mail (kwilkins@ci.yakima.wa.us).<\/em><\/p>\n

Two Key Management Roles Filled By Experienced Staff<\/h2>\n

Mark Soptich has nearly 40 years of experience in the fire service.\u00a0 Tara Lewis has spent almost 30 years in the finance industry.\u00a0 Now, the City of Yakima is benefitting from that vast experience having recently hired Soptich as a deputy fire chief and with Lewis being promoted to financial services manager.\u00a0 Both started their new duties on May 1st<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Originally from Selah, Soptich began his career with the Selah Fire Department in 1975.\u00a0 He filled several roles in the six years he worked for the department, including as deputy chief in charge of the training and inspection divisions.\u00a0 From 1981 through 1987, Soptich served as a firefighter and emergency medical technician for the Hanford Fire Department.\u00a0 In 1987, he was hired by the Oak Harbor Fire Department as a training officer.\u00a0 Two years later, Soptich became the Oak Harbor fire chief.\u00a0 Along with his duties as fire chief, Soptich also served as director of emergency services for the Western Washington town until earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cMark brings a wealth of knowledge to the Yakima Fire Department (\u201cYFD\u201d),\u201d said Yakima Fire Chief Dave Willson.\u00a0 \u201cWe couldn\u2019t be more thrilled to have him as part of our senior command staff.\u00a0 He is an excellent addition to our department,\u201d said Willson.<\/p>\n

Soptich\u2019s duties as deputy chief will include supervising the YFD\u2019s training and investigation divisions as well as its rescue team, serving as the department\u2019s safety officer and grants writer, handling hiring, promotions, and internal affairs for the department, and being in change of facilities and equipment.\u00a0 His salary is just over $8,300 a month.<\/p>\n

Lewis, who grew up in Renton, graduated from Central Washington University in 1984 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in accounting.\u00a0 After spending a year working for a Yakima accounting firm, Lewis was hired as chief accountant for Sunnyside Community Hospital.\u00a0 In 1986, she earned her license as a certified public accountant.\u00a0 During her tenure at Sunnyside Community Hospital, she also served as fiscal services director.\u00a0 From 1987 to 1992, Lewis worked on the financial end of the medical services industry for Kadlec Medical Center in Richland (\u201987-\u201989) and Carondelet Regional Health System in Pasco (\u201990-\u201992).\u00a0 In 1992, she was hired by Faith Assembly Christian Center in Pasco as its comptroller.\u00a0 Lewis moved to Columbia Basin College (\u201cCBC\u201d) in Pasco in 1996 and spent the next decade filling various roles for CBC including accounting supervisor and director of accounting services.\u00a0 In 2006, Lewis became director of accounting services for Yakima Valley Community College and served in that capacity until she was hired by the City in March 2010 as its financial services officer.\u00a0 Lewis also holds a master\u2019s degree in business administration, which she received from Washington State University in 2000.<\/p>\n

\u201cTara has both a lot of technical experience and a lot of managerial experience,\u201d said Director of Finance and Budget Cindy Epperson.\u00a0 \u201cBeing able to promote Tara and have her take on more responsibility is a real plus for the City.\u00a0 We\u2019re excited to be able to more fully utilize her talents,\u201d said Epperson.<\/p>\n

As financial services manager, Lewis will oversee the accounting and treasury operations of the Finance Department.\u00a0 Her salary is about $7,200 a month.<\/p>\n

For more information about this article, contact Community Relations Manager Randy Beehler by phone (901-1142) or by e-mail (rbeehler@ci.yakima.wa.us).<\/em><\/p>\n

May 2012 Issues Brief (pdf)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Contact: Parks and Recreation Manager Ken Wilkinson \u2013 509-575-6020 \u2013 kwilkins@ci.yakima.wa.us Community Relations Manager Randy Beehler \u2013 509-901-1142 \u2013 rbeehler@ci.yakima.wa.us Sponsors Step Up To Help Save Outdoor Summer Cinema Series Since it began several years ago, the Outdoor Summer Cinema Series has been a great way for people of all ages in Yakima to spend<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-issues-brief"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yakimawa.gov\/media\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yakimawa.gov\/media\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yakimawa.gov\/media\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yakimawa.gov\/media\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yakimawa.gov\/media\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.yakimawa.gov\/media\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":289,"href":"https:\/\/www.yakimawa.gov\/media\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions\/289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yakimawa.gov\/media\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yakimawa.gov\/media\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yakimawa.gov\/media\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}