43
Huge crowd turns out for meeting on MetroParks
Mill Creek Park Meeting
Video
A large crowd attended a meeting concerning recent changes at Mill Creek Park
Photo
Ed Buckles of Protect Geauga Park speaks at a public meeting Monday 3-7-16 concerning recent Mill Creek Park happenings. About 200 people attended the event. MCP director Aaron Young worked for Geauga Park prior to coming to MCP. William D. Lewis | The Vindicator
Mill Creek Park Meeting
Gallery
More than 200 people met concerning recent changes at Mill Creek Metro Parks.
YOUNGSTOWN
More than 200 people in opposition to recent staff cuts at Mill Creek MetroParks packed a community meeting room Monday night.
The group represented a broad swath of the community, with members of wildlife advocacy groups, a Geauga County park group and former MCMP leaders in attendance at Youngstown Community Health Center on Wick Avenue.
Among them was former Executive Director Dennis Miller, who left the park for another job in December 2014.
The group that now has organized against park leadership has called for the resignation or removal of Miller’s successor, Aaron Young, who last month implemented an “internal reorganization” plan that led to on-the-spot dismissal of 13 employees. Position eliminations are slated to save the park $13.2 million over the next 15 years for capital improvements.
In an interview, Miller said his presence at the community meeting was a show of support for those park employees who were let go.
“I think after working 17 years for the park system, and leading it for two, I developed strong relationships with a lot of employees and I was very disappointed by the treatment of the employees, and their firings. They were so passionate, and they had such a love for the park. ... You couldn’t come up with another way to fund those capital projects?”
Miller said during his tenure as park director, he recognized a need for the park to become more efficient and to achieve better cost-recovery while also addressing its capital improvement needs. His focus was “looking at the park’s ability to raise money on its own,” he said.
Former park commissioners Virginia Dailey and Rick Shale also attended the community meeting.
“I’m just greatly concerned about the issues that are facing the park,” said Dailey, who served on the board from 1997 to 2010. “There are so many concerns. ... They roll into the management of the park, the concern that the public has for the long-term stability of the park. ... I intend to pay attention and do what I can to benefit the park in the long run.”
The aim of the meeting was to organize and debrief before next Monday’s park board meeting, which is at 6 p.m. at the MetroParks Farm in Canfield.
Bill Adams, who organized the event, urged everyone there to attend the board meeting next week (and to show up early), and in the meantime to contact board members and Judge Robert N. Rusu Jr. of Mahoning County Probate Court, who appoints the board.
Adams and others expressed frustration at what they view as park leaders’ deception in cutting staff after winning approval of a 15-year renewal of the park’s operating levy paired with an additional 0.25-mill for capital improvements.
“When I voted for that, I thought that was going to keep everything going for 15 years. ... Then, three months after that, on a Friday afternoon before a three-day weekend, a month before the next board meeting – surprise,” Adams said of the first rounds of dismissals Feb. 12.
“To me, they fraudulently sold the levy,” he said.
The audience erupted in cheers and applause when he identified what seemed to be a broadly agreed-upon goal: Young’s ousting. Many who attended signed a petition calling for his resignation or dismissal.
“He’s broken our confidence. He’s broken public trust,” said one man in the audience, eliciting applause.
Some community members also have called for repealing the park levy, reinstatement of dismissed employees and removal of park commissioners.
Ed Buckles, member of a Geauga County park advocacy group who spoke at the meeting, highlighted the problems he believes are created because park board members are appointed rather than elected. His group has petitioned for removal of Geauga County’s probate judge.
“You’ve got a real asset here and it’s under threat. ... We thought it was important to show our solidarity with you,” he said, urging those in attendance to organize.
“If you don’t do it, nobody will,” he said.