Proposed budget amendment concerns park districts such as Mill Creek MetroParks

Staff report

COLUMBUS

A proposed amendment to a budget bill introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives could have implications for Mill Creek MetroParks.

The amendment to House Bill 49, which creates an operating budget for fiscal years 2018-19 and is now in the House finance committee, would expand the power probate courts have over park districts.

Currently, probate judges have the authority to appoint members of park district boards. Mahoning County Probate Judge Robert N. Rusu Jr. is the appointing authority for the Mill Creek MetroParks board.

The proposed amendment, for example, would allow the probate court to “investigate matters involving the park district, including the management of the park district, through a court hearing or through a special master commissioner,” “impose duties or restrictions on a person or party who interferes with the park district’s purposes as provided by this chapter or the court’s order creating the park district” and to “impose duties or restrictions on a person or party who interferes with the park district’s purposes as provided by this chapter or the court’s order creating the park district,” among other stipulations.

State Rep. John Boccieri of Poland, D-59th, released a statement Tuesday expressing his opposition to the proposal.

“Under this amendment, a judge could limit dissent from groups such as Concerned Citizens of Mill Creek Park by fining members for speaking out against a board decision,” Boccieri said.

Concerned Citizens of Mill Creek Park is a group that formed in opposition to staff dismissals at Mill Creek MetroParks in February 2015.