Mayor Nutter is expected to hire Gov. Rendell's open-space czar to oversee the city's new department of parks and recreation, sources familiar with the deal said yesterday.

Michael DiBerardinis ran the city Recreation Department during Rendell's time as mayor, 1992 to 2000, and now is in charge of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. He will head the entity formed by the merger of the Fairmount Park Commission and the Recreation Department.

Although the merger becomes official July 1, DiBerardinis will assume his post early next month.

Neither the mayor's office nor the governor's office would talk directly about DiBerardinis' appointment, but four sources with direct knowledge of it confirmed it this week. And Michael Smith, a spokesman for the governor, said yesterday that DiBerardinis "has spoken with the governor and informed him of his intention to resign."

A formal announcement is expected today.

DiBerardinis would not comment when approached by a reporter after testifying at a Senate budget hearing at the Capitol. "I can't do it," he said. "You are going to have to get it somewhere else."

The administration had not planned to announce the hiring now, and DiBerardinis wanted to present his state department budget before taking the city job, sources said.

Although the position was authorized by a referendum proposal that voters overwhelmingly approved in November, the addition of what will probably be another six-figure salary with a cabinetlike position in the midst of a fiscal crisis will be a delicate issue for Nutter.

DiBerardinis' resume may help blunt any criticism. A native of Downingtown, he began in city politics in the 1980s as a Malcolm X-inspired activist/agitator for the Kensington Joint Action Council.

After a tour as chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Tom Foglietta (D., Pa.), DiBerardinis was hired to run the city Recreation Department in Rendell's mayoral administration. In 2003, Rendell appointed DiBerardinis to his current cabinet post, which oversees state parklands.

"With Mike, we couldn't get a better person," said Councilman Curtis Jones Jr., who said he heard the buzz about the appointment at a forum on the Schuylkill River Trail in Philadelphia last week. DiBerardinis was there.

Jones said DiBerardinis has an understanding of city government and state bureaucracy, along with a connection to community groups.

That could help Nutter, whose administration was criticized for underestimating the community's resistance to closing library branches. Nutter's plan to close 11 of 54 libraries was stopped by a lawsuit enthusiastically supported by library users, community activists, teachers, and some members of City Council.

DiBerardinis also lives in the city and commutes to Harrisburg. He makes $132,934 a year as secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and his city salary is expected to be higher, though no exact figure was available yesterday.

"He's a go-to guy," Jones said. "If the mayor can pull this off, it'll be a feather in his cap."

But DiBerardinis' appointment would apparently involve some restructuring. Although it is unclear what his title will be, DiBerardinis will not report to Donald Schwarz, deputy mayor for health and opportunity, and will be in charge of the Free Library system, two sources said.

Under the referendum proposal approved in November by a 3-1 ratio, the Fairmount Park Commission, and all of the parkland it controls, merges with the Recreation Department as of July 1. By law, a new commissioner of parks and recreation is appointed by the managing director, who then appoints two deputy commissioners, one to head parks, the other recreation.

The city is also trying to attract candidates for an advisory commission, with applications due Monday.

It was also not clear yesterday what DiBerardinis' appointment means for Recreation Commissioner Susan Slawson or Mark Focht, executive director of the Fairmount Park Commission.