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Mill Creek MetroParks board president will not seek term renewal
YOUNGSTOWN
Atty. Louis Schiavoni, president of the Mill Creek MetroParks Board of Park Commissioners, will announce at a board meeting Monday that he will not seek renewal of his term, which expires this month.
Schiavoni, who has served on the board for 41/2 years and as board president for the last two, said the decision to depart the board is so he can devote more time to his family and to his law firm. In particular, he said, he plans to spend time with his father-in-law, who is ill.
“It’s bittersweet,” Schiavoni said of leaving the park board. “I know I’m leaving it in good hands. ... I really believe that Aaron [Executive Director Aaron Young] is a strong leader and is going to do really well with the park. We have a very good board as well.”
Young took over leadership of the park system at the beginning of this year.
Schiavoni mentioned each of the other four board members, calling the newest members – Scott Schulick and Germaine Bennett – “awesome.” Schulick and Bennett were appointed to the board in January.
“And you won’t find a more-passionate guy than Bob Durick, or a stronger leader than John Ragan,” Schiavoni said of the two veteran board members, who began serving in 2010.
The highlight of his tenure with the park, Schiavoni said, was overseeing capital improvements such as work to clean up the park system’s trails and an improvement project that is now underway at the Lily Pond. He also identified the golf course as an area that’s done well under his leadership.
“The icing on the cake would be that we passed the levy, so we’re leaving it in good hands,” he said of the 15-year levy renewal with additional millage approved by Mahoning County voters last month.
Schiavoni’s time at the park was not without challenges, however, he acknowledged.
“It’s a tough job. You’re scrutinized all the time. You’re in the public eye. You have to make snap decisions, and sometimes those aren’t popular, but I think for the betterment of the park you have to make them,” he said. He identified the 2014 decision to euthanize some of the park’s goose population as one of those challenging, unpopular decisions.
He doesn’t have regrets, though, he said, and is confident about the park’s future.
Judge Robert N. Rusu Jr. of Mahoning County Probate Court, the appointing authority for the park board, would like to have a new board member in place by January, he said. He already has talked with a few candidates.
Judge Rusu is not obligated to open up that process to the public, and likely will focus on candidates who have been referred to him rather than publicly advertising the position, he said.
“I’m looking for somebody ... that has some personal background in maybe running their own company or a corporation in the private sector, but that also has served on a public board,” he said.
“I need someone that’s got Youngstown’s best interests at heart, and someone that’s got Mahoning County’s best interests at heart, because this park is such a gem. I’m not looking for someone that’s looking to make a political name for themselves,” the judge said.
After this appointment, the majority of the board will be composed of Judge Rusu’s appointments, a fact he noted. Judge Rusu previously appointed Bennett and Schulick. Ragan and Durick were appointed by former county probate court Judge Mark Belinky.
Judge Rusu thanked Schiavoni for his service.
“Lou has done a nice job. These are volunteer positions. A lot of people think our board gets paid, but they don’t,” he said. “I thank him for the time he’s served at the park.”
Schiavoni’s last meeting will be Monday. It begins at 6 p.m. at Fellows Riverside Gardens, 123 McKinley Ave.