Mill Creek Park board apologizes after criticism of hiring process
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mill Creek MetroParks board of commissioners apologized at a public meeting Thursday night after members of the public and media raised questions this week about its selection process for hiring a new executive director.
“This was a miscommunication, and I will take the brunt of the blame as to why it happened,” said board president Lou Schiavoni. “There was no intent to deceive anybody. ... I apologize to the press. I apologize to the public, and I would hope that we would move on from here and get him hired at some point.”
After board members’ comments, the board made a motion to rescind the action it took Monday night to hire Aaron Young to replace Dennis Miller. The board then re-voted to hire Young.
Questions arose after a public meeting Monday night at which the board unanimously voted to hire Young. The process by which the board decided to hire Young failed to follow state law, the attorney representing The Vindicator and its news partner, 21 WFMJ-TV, said Tuesday.
“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,” attorney David Marburger said Tuesday. “They’re not allowed to decide it before and then have a ceremonial vote. That’s just theater.”
Schiavoni disputed in phone interviews Tuesday and Wednesday that the decision was made prior to Monday’s meeting, calling Monday’s decision a “meeting of the minds.”
The board met in executive session Saturday morning to conduct a final round of interviews for three candidates. Board members said they did not reach a decision Saturday.
A park district spokesperson issued a press release announcing Young as the board’s choice about an hour before the meeting Monday, and “Vote to hire Aaron Young as Executive Director” was included as an agenda item on the meeting agenda, which was released before the meeting began. The board did not engage in any discussion before the motion to vote to hire Young was made.
The board announced Wednesday that it would have a special meeting Thursday to address concerns.
“Aaron stood out very well in the interview sessions, and I assumed he would be our director. I believe that’s where the press-release error came about,” Schiavoni said Thursday.
“Monday was an expression of the board’s desire and recognition of Aaron as the top candidate,” commissioner Jay Macejko said. “If there was a failure on Monday, it was that we failed at the time the motion was made to indicate that there were still contingencies that needed to be satisfied. ... The regrettable thing is that that action on Monday led to confusion, it led to suspicion, it led to a number of people and outlets questioning the propriety of the decision and, again, it’s just something that we need to address. We’re doing that tonight.”
“The board, contrary to what’s been out there, did not violate Sunshine Laws, as no decision was made in executive session. We walked out of there without a decision being made, and ... decided for ourselves — not as a board — who the top candidate was,” Macejko said.
Three out of the five commissioners were present at Thursday’s meeting, which lasted approximately five minutes. Public comment was not permitted. The board opted not to go into executive session.
Young’s contract has yet to be negotiated. He is set to take over the position at year’s end.