Thursday, August 30, 2007
When Youngstown City Council meets Sept. 5, one of the items on its agenda is expected to be Mayor Jay Williams’ plan to reorganize the city park department.
Williams believes it should be brought under the control of the mayor’s office and he is seeking council’s approval to put the issue before the city’s voters. He is aiming for the November general election.
We find Williams’ arguments for reorganizing the department compelling — but that’s because we have long been dissatisfied with the status quo. Under the Youngstown Home Rule Charter, a commission governs the department, which is headed by the director of park and recreation.
And while the commission sets policy and makes all the decisions on hirings and firings, it is not financially independent. This year, it was allocated $3.1 million from the city’s general fund and $250,000 from the Community Development Agency. In addition, the city had to shell out $1.3 million for the new North Side Pool because the old one had to be demolished after it fallen into disrepair — due to a lack of a regular maintenance and repair program.
To us, the swimming pool debacle was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
But, the mayor must know there are many city residents who view government with suspicion and distrust, which is why he needs to make the case for amending the city charter to change the status of the park department.
Williams is right when he says that his proposal isn’t new and that most of his predecessors have also found fault with the current setup. The idea of having an entity within government operating outside the financial strictures of government is unacceptable.
There are no checks and balances within City Hall with regard to the park and recreation commission’s expenditure of public dollars.
Hiring practices
In a letter to the commission justifying his reorganization push, the mayor blasted its hiring practices as being “fraught with problems ranging from civil service violations, to the manipulation of collective bargaining agreements, to excessive employee costs, to nonexistent/ineffective disciplinary actions, to long-standing hostile work environments.”
These are all serious charges that demand to be detailed by the mayor. Civil service violations? Manipulation of collective bargaining agreements? The taxpayers have a right to know who perpetrated such alleged illegal acts?
What role did the former park and recreation director, Joseph McRae, play? How involved were members of the commission? McRae took early retirement in May with a severance package worth $40,000. The Ohio Civil Rights Commission has before it a complaint relating to the park department, but city officials have not provided any details.
As to the question of whether the mayor’s office would better manage the department than how it was run during McRae’s tenure, the proof lies with the North Side Pool.
It was completed and opened in July because Jason Whitehead, the mayor’s chief of staff, took charge of the project after he was named acting park director.
Although it was a short swimming season, attendance was heavy. That’s a tribute to the new management.
The concept of public service needs to be instilled in the park department, and we believe that can best be accomplished by having mayor’s office in charge.