Mill Creek board do-over set for Thursday night

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mill Creek MetroParks board of commissioners will have a special meeting Thursday night to address concerns that it failed to follow state law in its selection of a new executive director.

The meeting, announced in a release this afternoon, will be at 6 p.m. at the park district’s administrative office at 7574 Columbiana-Canfield Road. The purpose of the meeting is “to consider the appointment, employment, and compensation of a new executive director,” according to the release.

The meeting comes after media outlets and the public raised questions about the process by which the board decided to hire Aaron Young to replace Dennis Miller.

Though the board unanimously voted at a public meeting Monday night to hire Young, the actual decision to choose Young was not made in public and therefore is not in accordance with Ohio Sunshine Laws, said attorney David Marburger on Tuesday. Marburger is the attorney representing The Vindicator and its news partner, 21 WFMJ-TV.

“The law requires a public body like the park district to make 100 percent of its decisions for the first time in public at a pre-arranged meeting,” he said Tuesday. “They’re not allowed to decide it before and then have a ceremonial vote. That’s just theater.”

Read more on the matter in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.