John Hird at last night’s meeting of the parks & rec committee. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

If you were around Red Bank in 2003, seeing John Hird’s face at Borough Hall these days may seem like deja vu.

Hird is back, and in the same role he was the first time the Red Bank Parks and Recreation Committee was in a bind, as interim director of the department.

This time, the full-time Parks & Rec director for Rumson is stepping in for Bob Evans, who was told a couple weeks ago he wouldn’t be reappointed to the position he’s held since 2004, said Borough Administrator Stanley Sickels. Terms run from January 1 to December 31.

Sickels and the Parks & Rec Committee stayed hugger-mugger at its meeting Tuesday night about the why Evans wasn’t reappointed. Before the meeting began, Sickels and the committee met behind closed doors for about 20 minutes to discuss personnel matters.

“He’s not the first Parks & Rec director to not get reappointed,” Sickels said. “The council wanted a change.”

While Hird is keeping the seat warm, the borough will advertise for the position on local and state web sites as well as in the Asbury Park Press. Hird, who has been in the interim role for about two weeks now, is taking on what Sickels called a “consulting” responsibility in his off time from Rumson, Sickels said.

“He’s just coming in and meeting with our staff and our volunteers and picking up the slack,” he said. “He had helped out (in 2003) on a consulting basis as we did our search. I asked if he’d be willing to help an old student of his again, and he said yes.”

There’s no definitive timeline on when a full-time hire will take over.