Cara Lambright, who oversaw the creation of a draft master plan for a massive redevelopment of City Park, announced on Tuesday (June 25) that she will resign from her role as president and CEO of the City Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that manages the park.
Lambright, who has held the job since early 2021, will be on the job until July 5, said David Waller, president of the park’s governing board, at a Tuesday evening meeting.
The conservancy’s vice president and chief administrative officer, Rebecca Dietz, has been selected by the New Orleans City Park Improvement Association board to replace Lambright.
After the board meeting, Lambright told Verite News she was leaving the position because she was offered another job in Texas. Prior to joining City Park, Lambright was the COO and executive vice president of Houston’s Memorial Park Conservancy. Lambright declined to provide details of the new role, but said it was an opportunity to return home.
“It is a place that is so special to my family. It gets me back home with my family,” Lambright said. “And there comes a moment in your life that you realize like these are the things that matter.”
Lambright took over as CEO of City Park in 2021 after the retirement of Bob Becker, who ran the park for two decades. During her tenure, the CPIA transitioned day-to-day park operations to City Park Conservancy, which formally incorporated as a nonprofit in 2022. She led the park through its recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Ida and helped the organization rebound from “severe financial deficits,” according to a news release announcing her departure.
Lambright accomplished a “tremendous amount of work in…a very short period of time,” Waller said at the meeting, citing her leadership during the early days of the nonprofit and during the creation of a draft master plan to overhaul the park.
Clashes and conversations with Grow Dat
Lambright’s most recent challenge arose as she oversaw that plan, which became a lightning rod for controversy over a proposal to build a road through the center of the park to connect its north and south sides. The proposed road, which would cut through the popular Grow Dat Youth Farm, drew fierce criticism from community groups and residents and became central in a monthslong battle over the conservancy-backed plan.
At a public meeting in March held to gather feedback on the conservancy’s plan for the future of water in the park, hundreds of Grow Dat supporters showed up to express their dismay with the proposed road. Youths who work at the park, teachers who use the park as an educational resource and other critics of the master plan said the conservancy was putting a valued community resource at risk of closure.
Since then, the conservancy has had a tenuous relationship with Grow Dat and its supporters. Several days after the meeting, the conservancy told Grow Dat supporters it wouldn’t renew the farm’s lease, which expires in 2027. The conservancy also claimed that the farm owes a quarter of a million dollars in back rent to the park, which further inflamed opposition to the proposed road.
But in late April, the conservancy began to soften its approach. Lambright announced at that month’s board meeting that the conservancy was extending its public engagement efforts and postponing a public meeting scheduled for May in order to get more feedback from community groups to integrate into its outreach efforts and planning processes.
Since then, the conservancy has met with Grow Dat’s executive leadership to discuss the possibility of keeping the farm in the park. As of late June, no contracts have been inked, and the conservancy has not made any promises to let the farm stay in its current location or in the park.
Callie Rubbins-Breen, co-executive director of Grow Dat, said the farm’s leadership is looking forward to working with Dietz, who has been involved in the recent discussions.
“We anticipate that we’ll continue those productive conversations with her,” Rubbins-Breen said. “Our goals remain the same: that we want and are committed to having a future in the park and hope to be at our site long term,” she said.
A new leader amid uncertainty
Justin Kray, president of the City Park for Everyone Coalition, attended the Tuesday meeting. Kray said he is concerned that the sweeping master plan, which also includes proposals for new roads and walking trails, increased stormwater management and remaking a section of the park called The Wooded Island, will be narrowed in scope as Lambright departs.
While Kray is in support of Grow Dat remaining in the park, he said he was “dismayed” that the farm and the park couldn’t come to a compromise sooner and hopes that some of Lambright’s other ambitious plans for the park remain in place despite her departure.
“I would expect it to flip to something more conservative, which means not trying to do anything to ruffle any feathers,” he said.
He described Lambright’s leadership as independent. “My sense of it is that Cara was too much of the free spirit” for people on the park’s governing boards.
Kray believes that members of those boards view Dietz, who has worked as a public servant and park executive in the city for more than a decade, will lead more conservatively. “They kind of want someone who can return things to safer waters, like more predictable,” Kray said.
Dietz was unanimously elected by the CPIA board to replace Lambright at the Tuesday meeting. Prior to joining City Park Conservancy in 2022, she was the city attorney during Mitch Landrieu’s administration and then an attorney for Audubon Nature Institute, the nonprofit that oversees Audubon Park.
“Without a doubt, Rebecca Dietz is the right leader to build upon the important work we are doing at City Park, and ensure trusted leadership,” Waller said in the news release announcing Lambright’s departure. “Her proven track record and deep understanding of parks management, fundraising and her political acumen will be invaluable as we continue to advance our mission and planning efforts to better serve our community.”
She is inheriting a master plan process that’s been delayed as park leadership meets with community groups to get feedback on its engagement and planning processes. The conservancy has yet to reschedule its last public meeting for the process, which was slated for May.
Keith Claverie, marketing and communications manager for the conservancy, said in an email to Verite News that the conservancy anticipates the master planning process will now conclude in June 2025. The conservancy had previously intended to finalize the plan at the end of this year.
This story has been updated to include additional interviews and details from the June 25 meeting.