Niles Wellness Center needs full-time director

By Jordan Cohen

news@vindy.com

NILES

The advisory board to the deficit-ridden Wellness Center has acknowledged that elimination of the full-time director post to save money has been a failure and that the position should be restored.

As part of the city’s financial-recovery plan from fiscal emergency, the post, which paid $50,000, was eliminated this year.

Scott MacMillan, who had been director, was reduced to the part-time position of athletic director at a salary of $25,000 along with a part-time employee serving as building director.

It hasn’t worked, said Linda Marchese, D-3rd, who heads council’s public-grounds committee.

“There’s too much confusion, and people are being told different things by different people,” said Marchese, who conducted a poll of users. “They all want one director.”

“We’re going to lose these people if we don’t do something,” said James Scott, an advisory board member.

Making matters worse, according to city Auditor Giovanne Merlo, is the lack of standardization of invoices, inconsistent discount practices and a number of unpaid bills by soccer groups using the facility.

“Whoever is in charge needs to be responsible for the money,” Merlo said.

Merlo doesn’t know how much money the center is owed, but plans to review the facility’s software to find out.

“I’ll submit a plan of what should be in place,” the auditor promised.

In 2015, Merlo said, the Wellness Center was $180,000 in the red. Deficit figures were not immediately available for this year.

During MacMillan’s tenure as full-time director, the state auditor determined that nearly $22,000 in revenue from soda sales disappeared in 2012 and 2013 without any supporting documentation of sales and receipts.

“The center actually paid more for the vendor’s products than it earned in sales,” the state audit determined.

“We had a director, and thousands of dollars walked out the door,” said Robert Marino, council president and board member. “We need someone to clean this operation.”

“How are you going to run a business when you don’t get help from anybody,” said Scott in defense of MacMillan.

Marchese recommended the new director have a background in business and marketing while Scott suggested candidates show experience in athletic management and soccer, which is the largest source of revenue for the center. The group plans to complete a job description by the end of July and start advertising for candidates in early August.

“We’re not saying we don’t want [MacMillan],” said Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia. “We want a director who knows what they’re doing and can work with the public.”

Still to be determined is the director’s salary and the revenue source for funding it. Because Niles is in fiscal emergency, its fiscal supervisors have to approve. The city’s financial recovery plan would also have to be changed subject to approval by council and the deficit commission responsible for reviewing all spending.