Mayor proposes panel changes

Now, the city has little
control over the parks and recreation commission.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

CITY HALL REPORTER

YOUNGSTOWN — Mayor Jay Williams wants voters to approve a charter amendment to remove the park and recreation commission’s autonomy and place the agency under the control of the city administration.

Williams first needs the go-ahead from city council to place the proposal on the Nov. 6 election ballot — and he needs it fast. The deadline to file charter amendments for the November ballot with the Mahoning County Board of Elections is Aug. 23.

Williams wants city council’s parks and recreation committee to hold a special meeting later this week, and for council to approve his proposal at its Aug. 22 meeting. If council wants more time, the charter amendment can wait until next year to get on the ballot, Williams said.

Councilman Richard Atkinson, R-3rd and council’s parks and recreation committee chairman, said council would listen to the mayor’s proposal.

Denise M. Skowron, the commission’s chairwoman, refused to comment on the mayor’s proposal.

Jason Whitehead, the commission’s interim director and chief of staff/secretary to the mayor, said when he spoke in general terms to the commission’s five members a few months ago about possible changes, they indicated they wanted things to “continue as is.”

The commission

The commission is primarily funded through the city’s general fund, receiving $3.1 million this year, and the city’s Community Development Block Grant fund, $250,000 this year. The city also spent $1.3 million this year to build a new North Side Pool after well over a year of delays and problems with the project.

The city administration and council have limited authority over the commission, Williams said.

The mayor says the commission “has been plagued by numerous deficiencies over the past several years,” and oversight by the administration is greatly needed.

Among the problems is the North Side Pool project, poor worker morale in the department, poor management, and higher-than-average workers compensation claims, Williams and Whitehead said.

Joseph R. McRae, who held the director job for 18 years, abruptly resigned in May. There is a matter in front of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission related to the park and recreation commission, but city officials declined to discuss it.

The commission was created Nov. 5, 1935, as an amendment to the city’s charter.

That 72-year-old charter amendment is “outdated and functionally obsolete,” Williams wrote in a letter to city council and the commission.

Proposed changes

The most significant change under Williams’ proposal is to require commission contracts and purchases to follow the same procedure as other departments: going through city council and the board of control.

The proposal also includes making the mayor, and not the commission, the appointing authority for all permanent employees.

“Having an entity essentially operate outside of the fiduciary oversight of the individuals elected to represent, protect and [advance] the interests of the citizens of this community should be of great concern to all of us,” Williams wrote. “As previously noted, the city of Youngstown has been and continues to be exposed to often considerable financial, legal, operational and reputation risk by the structure of this relationship.”

Williams and Atkinson said they eventually want to look at putting the city’s health department under the control of the administration.

skolnick@vindy.com