Mill Creek board appointment is a chance for new beginning

Mahoning County Probate Court Judge Robert Rusu’s appointment this week of Scott Schulick to the Mill Creek Metropolitan Park District Board of Commissioners takes the first of what should be many positive steps toward moving oversight of the system toward greater transparency and accountability to the public.

“It’s just time to make a change. We need to move that park in a different direction,” Judge Rusu said in announcing the appointment Monday of Schulick and the reappointment of John Ragan to three-year terms on the board.

A sea change away from the choppy waters of 2014 is critically needed. After all, public confidence in the board has sunk to distressing lows because of its failure to place a sufficiently high premium on the community’s right to know and on the public’s right to sound off on critical decisions of the public park system.

Two missteps remain glued into the public consciousness. Last summer, the euthanizing of 238 Canada geese without allowing public input on alternative methods to lessen the fowl population generated widespread community outrage. Then just earlier this month the board ran slipshod over this state’s open-meetings laws by agreeing to hire Aaron Young as executive director of the MetroParks behind closed doors. The board later reconvened a public meeting to validate that appointment and right its wrong.

Given that backdrop, Schulick’s appointment is indeed promising. As a vice president at Stifel Nicolas in Canfield, Schulick has a keen understanding of public finance and management. As former chairman of the Youngstown State University Board of Trustees, Schulick has demonstrated his allegiance to public accountability in making that a core value of the university’s strategic plan through 2020. Also during his tenure on the YSU policymaking board, which ended last year, Schulick consistently worked to keep the actions and finances of the university wide open to public inspection.

We’re confident Schulick will carry those same public-spirited values to his new volunteer position on the park board. In addition, we hope Judge Rusu exercises the same sound judgment when he soon makes another appointment to the board in the wake of the resignation of member Valencia Marrow of Youngstown, who is leaving for family reasons.

Accountability

We also hope that new executive director Young begins his tenure with a commitment to maximum transparency and accountability in all park operations, finances and key decisions. The magnificent park system, after all, is owned and funded by residents of the community through a countywide property tax levy.

Young and board members will have added incentive to do so as 2015 begins because renewal or replacement of that 1.75-mill countywide real estate tax levy that raises about $6.5 million annually is likely to be on next year’s general election ballot.

Schulick understands clearly that the stakes are high. “It’s going to be imperative for the park board and administration to meet the expectations of the community to work to renew the tax levy for support of the park next year,” he said.

He, other park board members, Young and other leaders of the park system have their work cut out for them at the dawn of the new year. Through their words and through their actions, they must solicit public input on major decisions, keep the district’s financial ship guided toward efficiency and pay strong heed to laws governing open meetings and open records. Doing so will go far toward ensuring continued taxpayer support and continued strong upkeep of one of this state’s and this nation’s largest and most treasured natural parks.