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A year since staff dismissals, MetroParks officials and critics express optimism
CANFIELD
One year ago, furor over Mill Creek MetroParks’ dismissal of numerous employees was just beginning to take shape.
On Feb. 12, 2016, several staff members – including highly respected longtime employees such as former Horticulture Director Keith Kaiser and Naturalist Ray Novotny – were informed their positions had been eliminated. Adding to the public outrage over the move were the optics, with park police officers on site for the announcements.
The internal reorganization unleashed a wave of public outcry, with community members showing up in droves to park board meetings. At the first board meeting after the dismissals, more than 200 people showed up to express their outrage.
Over the next several months, the agitation showed no signs of dying down. People formed a concerned citizens group and organized several well-attended meetings. The Mahoning County Board of Elections was inundated with calls from residents inquiring about how to repeal a recently approved MetroParks levy.
Two park board members quit. A lawsuit was filed challenging the handling of the internal reorganization. And the monthly board meetings continued to be outlets for people’s anger.
The events of last year undoubtedly prompted greater public scrutiny of the MetroParks. They also set off a wave of action many sources say have changed the park for the better. Board members, Executive Director Aaron Young, and several people who have been critical of park leaders expressed optimism – some with enthusiasm, others with reservation – about the direction in which the park is moving.
MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
After board members Mike Senchak and Scott Schulick resigned in the wake of the controversy, Mahoning County Probate Judge Robert N. Rusu Jr., who is responsible for appointing board members, came up with an idea to respond to cries for greater public input. He set up a committee, comprised of people with diverse interests, that would field board applications and forward recommendations to him.
That process resulted in the appointments of Tom Shipka and Lee Frey to the board, both of whom set about trying to repair the damage that had been done. During his time on the board, Frey has been a consistent proponent of transparency and increasing public involvement in MetroParks business.
Shipka has been an especially active board member, successfully proposing changes ranging from creation of standing citizen advisory committees to implementing board work sessions to a measure that took back some of the board powers previously delegated to the executive director.
Many of those who have been vocal critics of park leaders and their handling of the internal reorganization said they are encouraged by Shipka and Frey’s work on the board, and many people interviewed for this story lauded Judge Rusu’s board-appointing process.
“I think that the board has really changed a lot, and they are being a lot more responsive to the public and a lot more open,” said Suzanne Anzellotti, who along with her husband, Jim Ray, and retired YSU dean Barbara Brothers sued the park leaders who were involved in implementation of the internal reorganization.
The lawsuit contends planning of the staff shake-up behind closed doors was a violation of Ohio’s open-meetings law.
“I think there’s been some changes in the right direction, and we’ve got some other key people that have come on the board that are also trying to move for a more open atmosphere,” Ray said. “That was one of our key points of our lawsuit, that very important decisions were getting made against the Sunshine Law. ... I think there’s been a move away from that.”
Pamela Garver, a frequent speaker at board meetings who now is on a standing committee, expressed measured optimism.
“I am still disgusted over the dismissals. ... We still have no full-time naturalist which, for a park the size of Mill Creek MetroParks, is a travesty,” she said. “I think with the appointments of Dr. Shipka and Mr. Frey we have at least two voices to offset what seemed to be an abdication of responsibility from the board to the executive director.
“It remains to be seen what impact the public advisory committees will have on decisions, if any. But it is a good first step.”
SOMETHING TO BE REMEMBERED
Also in the last year, the MetroParks moved forward with plans that had been in the works since Young became director at the start of 2015: giving across-the-board raises, and starting a 15-year capital improvements initiative.
Park leaders who were involved in the decision to eliminate positions said the change was needed to pay for some of those capital improvements.
The estimated annual cost savings from elimination of 20 positions (some of which were unfilled at the time of the reorganization) is close to $900,000, factoring in wages and benefits. Young has said the savings will close a gap needed to invest $29 million in capital improvements over the next 15 years, about half of which will be paid for by the roughly $1 million per year the park will get from an additional 0.25-mill included in a November 2015 levy renewal.
Despite across-the-board employee raises, plus compensation adjustments given to 12 employees, the park is still spending $166,199 less on salaries and wages this year compared with last.
This year’s budget dives into the planned capital improvements, with about $2.6 million in general-fund appropriations allocated for capital projects. That figure is more than the $1.93 million the park would need to spend each year to make good on its promise to invest $29 million over 15 years.
In an interview, Shipka pointed to this type of spending as evidence of what he believes was misrepresentation of the internal reorganization’s purpose.
“My opinion, based on seven months of experience on the board, is that the reorganization was not necessary for the reason given by the executive director,” he said.
“If money was as tight as was suggested a year ago, I don’t see that the so-called savings would be sufficient to support the spending that has being going on,” said Shipka, pointing to, for example, the wage adjustments for selected staff. “So I don’t see a financial exigency as the primary reason. It may have been a contributing reason, but it was not a primary reason. I believe that the executive director simply didn’t see eye-to-eye with three of the long-serving employees.”
Asked for a response to Shipka’s assessment, Young declined to comment specifically, but said because Shipka was not on the board at that time, “It’s really inappropriate for him to comment in any great detail on the preparations.”
Among the long-serving employees to whom Shipka referred was Keith Kaiser, who led Fellows Riverside Gardens for 27 years. Kaiser recently took over as director of Pittsburgh Botanic Garden.
Reached by The Vindicator, Kaiser reflected on his dismissal and life since then.
“I still think it was not done well. As much as it can be justified as maybe helping the MetroParks, I still question it,” he said.
Kaiser said he was encouraged by the public response to the position eliminations.
“I was very pleased with the amount of support I got from many other people that were connected to the MetroParks and the Gardens,” he said. “When I left, just the support they shared to me was great.”
While Kaiser said he has moved on with his life, he believes the dismissal of him and his fellow staff members will live on in the community’s collective memory.
“From water quality, to fish kills, to deer hunting, all of that stuff – this was more than any of those,” he said, referring to other park controversies. “This is something that will be remembered through all the history of the MetroParks, and our community.”
KEEP MOVING
While some of the park’s critics were persistent in their calls for Young to leave because of his role in the internal reorganization, that’s not the board’s mindset. Mostly, the board seems confident in Young’s ability to lead.
Board members Germaine Bennett and John Ragan have been unflagging in their support for him. Dr. Robert Durick, who recently left the board after seven years, told The Vindicator the park is “in the best hands it’s been in in years” under Young.
Before Young’s arrival, the executive director role was turned over again and again in the course of the last 10 or so years, and park officials would like to see some stability.
“I think Aaron has done a great job implementing the plans,” Ragan said. “Some of these groups get mad at us for implementing old rules that were never enforced. ... Maybe that was the problem. There wasn’t a lot of structure over the last 15 years, and now we have someone who wants to bring structure.”
Frey and Shipka both noted a recent resolution that requires the executive director to seek board approval in public session for significant policy decisions.
“What we’ve tried to do in my seven months is to restrict his authority to act unilaterally, as he did a year ago,” Shipka said.
Frey noted Young’s strengths, such as his willingness to cooperate with all the changes the board has implemented over the last year.
“I think Aaron is an outstanding planner,” he said. “He has been totally honest. ... And he’s been very open in discussing things.”
For his part, Young is looking to the future.
“I’m thrilled with the direction that the park is heading in now. We are seeing the benefits of some of the changes we’ve had to make since the beginning of my tenure,” he said.
He noted the capital projects planned for 2017, saying, “Internally, the wheels of design are churning, and we look forward to those projects starting as soon as the weather cooperates.”
“2017 is going to be an exciting year for us, and we’re [eager] to keep moving.”