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New MetroParks board members to seek more public input
CANFIELD
After taking the oath of office to serve on the Mill Creek MetroParks Board of Park Commissioners, Lee Frey and Thomas Shipka are ready to join the board for its regular monthly meeting Monday.
Mahoning County Probate Judge Robert N. Rusu Jr. on Friday swore in Frey and Shipka to serve out the remainder of the three-year terms vacated by the resignations of Michael Senchak and Scott Schulick.
Frey and Shipka identified what their priorities will be as they begin their tenures on the five-member board that has been embattled due to public backlash over a February staff restructuring that eliminated numerous park positions.
Frey said his priority is to increase public input into MetroParks business.
“I’d like to get more people involved with what’s going on with the board,” he said. “They’re a valuable resource.”
On a similar note, Judge Rusu on Friday told The Vindicator that he has plans to convene a permanent citizens advisory committee to counsel the MetroParks board on what members of the public view as priorities.
Noting his satisfaction with the work of the 10-member selection committee he empaneled to help him choose the new board members, he said he’d like to expand it into a larger panel that can advise the board on other matters.
With both of those efforts, he said, “I’m just trying to give the people a say, where they didn’t have it before. ... I see a need. I’m just trying to help people feel more comfortable, to let them have a say, and protect one of our biggest assets in Mahoning County.”
He said it likely will take a few months to get that committee up and running. He also plans to use a selection committee to help him with future board appointments, he said.
Shipka, too, identified a need for greater public input into park matters.
“Observing from the outside, I think we have lost a lot of public support recently, and I think we need to restore that,” he said.
Establishing greater transparency among MetroParks leaders is another priority, he said.
“We have got to inform the public of decisions,” he said. “We need to do this before the fact, not after the fact, as was done recently.”
Shipka was referring to the fact that members of the public were made aware of the MetroParks’ staff restructuring only after it was implemented. On Feb. 12, the MetroParks informed several staff members that their positions were being eliminated. In total, 13 park employees were affected. One has since gone back to work for the park in another capacity; the others signed severance packages.
The nature of the position eliminations was at the center of a lawsuit filed this week in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court by three community members – Barbara Brothers of Youngstown, and married couple Suzanne Anzellotti and Jim Ray of Poland.
The complaint – which names as defendants the MetroParks board; board members John Ragan, Robert Durick and Germaine Bennett; former board member Schulick; and MetroParks Executive Director Aaron Young – alleges that MetroParks officials violated Ohio Sunshine Law governing public meetings in its planning of the staff restructuring.
MetroParks officials on Friday responded to the complaint.
“It is unfortunate that the tactics utilized by certain individuals and various special interest groups, all of which have been on full display at recent Park Board Meetings, have transitioned into the legal realm,” Young said in a statement sent to The Vindicator.
“These tactics and related false claims will now cause the unfortunate and unnecessary expenditure of critical tax dollars in avenues other than what is vitally important to park users, which is improving the MetroParks. Great things are happening daily at the MetroParks and you can see that in the recent physical improvements at the Golf Course, the Lily Pond and Lanterman’s Mill Parking Lot as well as the new partnerships that provided for the renting of bicycles at the Kirk Road Trailhead. The impact of these physical improvements and new recreational opportunities is visible on the smiling faces of the many visitors, of whom we will continue to diligently work for,” Young stated.
Ragan, board president, refuted the claims, saying, “I’m not sure why they filed the lawsuit. I think it’s frivolous. It’s just costing us more and more money to defend what we’ve done, and I think we’ve defended that in the public exactly why we did what we did. I don’t think we violated any sunshine laws, so I’m not sure what the whole argument is.”
The board meeting is at 6 p.m. Monday at the MetroParks Farm, 7574 Columbiana-Canfield Road.