Mike Hahm is a lifelong Saint Paul resident and a dedicated career employee of the Saint Paul Parks and Recreation Department.
Mike’s career began more than 25 years ago as a recreation center employee while he was finishing his business degree at the University of Saint Thomas. For the past 15 years, Mike has served on the senior Parks and Recreation management team holding a variety of positions including recreation services manager, special services manager and director of Como Park Zoo & Conservatory. In 2008, Mike was appointed as Director of Saint Paul Parks and Recreation by former Mayor Chris Coleman. After a community-led hiring process, Mike was reappointed as Director by Mayor Melvin Carter in December 2017.
Mike’s notable career highlights include championing efforts to expand youth after-school programming in recreation centers, successfully increasing strategic public-private partnerships in an effort to counter shrinking budgets, helping to lead the City’s Great River Passage planning efforts to guide all future public development along Saint Paul’s Mississippi Riverfront, and re-energizing and leading one of Saint Paul’s premium family destinations, Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, to record-breaking attendance.
More recently, Mike has been instrumental in raising Saint Paul’s profile through his leadership work on several large citywide events and projects, including; Frogtown Community Center, CHS Field, Arlington Hills Community Center, Red Bull Crashed Ice and Flugtag, Frogtown Park & Farm, the Gorilla Forest exhibit and the soon-to-open Como Harbor seal and sea lion exhibit at Como Park Zoo & Conservatory.
