Park board meets

Days of ‘micromanagement’ are over, the commission’s interim head says.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

CITY HALL REPORTER

YOUNGSTOWN — Meeting for the first time since voters stripped away most of their authority and autonomy, the city’s park and recreation commission members say it’s still “business as usual” for them.

But the reality is there is change because of overwhelming support from city voters Nov. 6 on three charter amendments related to the agency.

Thursday’s meeting, the first since that vote, started about 30 minutes late — typical of the commission. It finished in about an hour — a rarity in recent years.

Among the big changes for the commission: It can no longer approve the park and recreation department’s payroll sheets, and can’t approve most expenses, said Jason T. Whitehead, the mayor’s chief of staff/secretary who is serving as its interim director. Its members can make recommendations to city council on purchases.

The detailed expense and revenue reports the commission members used to examine at previous meetings were replaced Thursday by a sheet of paper with generic categories such as building rentals, golf course revenue, swimming pools revenue and field rentals.

Commission members asked Whitehead to give them the detailed reports in the future.

Whitehead agreed, but added: “In the past, we’ve spent so much time at the meetings approving someone to run to the store to buy a battery.”

Whitehead agreed that commission members should be permitted to review the detailed expense and revenue reports in the future, but said the days of “micromanagement” are over.

The charter amendments require the commission’s contracts and purchases to receive city council and board of control approval. The amendments give the mayor, and not the commission, power to appoint all permanent park and recreation employees, except the director.

The amendments were strongly pushed by Mayor Jay Williams.

“This won’t affect the day-to-day operations of the park department,” said Denise A. Warren, the commission’s vice chairwoman. “We have the same interests at heart: the efficient operations of the parks.”

Member David M. Davis said he never objected to the charter amendment movement and expects meetings to be “business as usual.”

Williams was out of town Thursday and plans to meet with the commission at either its next meeting, Dec. 27, or request a special meeting before that date to discuss how the changes will affect the commission’s role, Whitehead said.

There are no plans to seek the resignations of the five commissioners, and the commissioners don’t have any plans to quit.

One major move the commission needs to make — and it’s one they can make without the approval of anyone else — is the hiring of its director.

The commission needs to ask the city’s civil service commission to schedule and hold a written test for the director’s position. A new director would probably be hired sometime in February, March or possibly April, Whitehead said.

skolnick@vindy.com