Michael Slater stepped down as MSPC president on March 31st. The board elected Christine Chute as the new president. Michael served as MSPC’s first president and managed the Conservancy’s day-to-day work for the past 30 months. During his term, the organization evolved from the Friends of Bush Gardens to the Mission Street Parks Conservancy, installed a new landscape design in the park’s “Ravine,” completed a study on the health of the park’s oaks, and initiated the surveying and cataloging of the park’s woody plant collections. Michael stepped down in response to funding declines resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Christine Chute has served on the board for the past ten months and looks forward to working closely with Salem city staff. She is a retired attorney with a long history of board service.
