Elyria City Council: Bring back the Parks Department director

ELYRIA — City Council members want the city to rehire the laid-off Parks and Recreation director, citing potential liability and safety issues without an overseer. At Monday's Community Development and Finance meeting, Council members brought forward concerns that the administration is considering allowing other organizations to use the facilities without oversight. And, as the department begins to come back, members said they need someone to oversee it. Mayor Frank Whitfield wasn't present at the virtual meeting, as he was out sick. Councilman Mark Jessie, D-3rd Ward, said as things open back up, someone needs to be in place who understand how parks run and what the procedures are. In discussing ways to pay for the director's position, Jessie said he and Finance Director Ted Pileski discussed potentially using Issue 6 funds to supplement the income instead of further draining the general fund. Other Council members were in agreement. Councilman Phil Tollett, D-at large, said the Parks Department needs a leader who specializes in parks. "It almost feels like we're flying blindly with some of the programs we're thinking about instituting without a specialist at the top," Tollett said. "Whether that be liability, or sanitation or scheduling, so I totally agree with Mr. Jessie." In April, Whitfield announced that Parks Director Carrie Reardon would be laid off because of budget shortfalls due to COVID-19. The Cemetery Department director also was laid off. Other Parks employees were dispersed to other city departments. In emails to Council members obtained by The Chronicle-Telegram, Reardon expressed frustration at the layoff, saying the decision was made "without more than a 20-minute meeting between myself, Derek and Kevin." Council President Vic Stewart, D-at large, said at an earlier meeting a couple weeks ago, the Parks Board expressed the desire to see Reardon return to her post. Stewart said the questions involved with the Parks Department's current situation is why he wanted to have an open conversation among Council members. Councilwoman Brenda Davis, D-2nd Ward, said she doesn't understand why the city would consider giving keys to the city's facilities for organizations to come in with no supervision. She said that opens the city to being sued if anything were to go wrong. Chief of Staff Ren Flanders told Council members that previous administrations have allowed outside organizations to come in to Elyria's facilities. She said they've had conversations with insurance agents to make sure the city is protected. The only dissenter among the Council members was Councilman Marcus Madison, D-5th Ward, who said he was "disappointed" in the conversation around organizations coming into the facilities. "It's not like all of a sudden we're giving the keys out to someone and saying 'Here you go, run with it,' " Madison said. "... I have no interest in playing politics. At the end of the day it's summer and we've got kids out here trying to figure out what they need to do. We shouldn't minimize the work that these non-profits are doing." Councilwoman Donna Mitchell, D-6th Ward, said that while she supports nonprofits and other organizations, she takes issue with the city picking and choosing what organizations would get keys to the rec centers. Mitchell said there needs to be a process in place. She and the other Council members except Madison said they were not aware the city ever gave keys to city property to organizations even if it happened under previous administrations. Assistant Safety Service Kevin Brubaker said he was aware of only one organization ever had a key to the facilities and that was the Boys and Girls Club. Any other group that used the facility rented it and a staff member was present during that time. Law Director Amanda Deery said in her reading of the city's charter, City Council would need to approve an arrangement to use the recreational facilities and a contract would need to be written. There is no record of any previous agreement with the Boys and Girls Club to have keys to any city-owned facilities. There's also the issue of who would sanitize the buildings after groups were done and who would pay for the costs of opening the facilities. Stewart said there is a cost associated with that, and it's unclear who would pay for it. Mitchell said it's necessary for the Parks Department director to return to her job so that there is structure to the department. Deery said calling her back is a decision for the administration. Although Council members can pass a resolution stating that they want Reardon to be rehired, they do not handle matters of personnel. The conversation is likely to return at the next Council meeting Monday, July 6. Contact Laina Yost at (440) 329-7121 or lyost@chroniclet.com.