Park Bd. seeks user accountability

COLUMBUS -- The Columbus Youth Baseball Association’s repeated failure to fulfill its contractual obligations -- and fulfillment from other local athletic organizations -- has prompted the park board to investigate enforcement measures.

Seeking consistency and continuity from local athletic organizations that use the parks, the board in September expressed concern that all reports required by the contracts granting priority access to facilities, are not being filed regularly.

The board commissioners took some responsibility for the lax enforcement, stating they would request reports by distributing letters to each organization, but added they have no way to enforce compliance. So the board discussed adding “teeth” to the agreements, either through additional fees for organizations that fail to comply or a deposit that would be returned at the end of the season for those that do comply.

The city has contracts with the Wilderness Park Operations Committee and local American Youth Soccer Organization for priority use of Wilderness Park; the American Legion Hartman Post 84 for use of Pawnee Park Baseball field; the Columbus Softball Association for use of Gerrard Park; the Columbus Youth Softball Association and Columbus Area Midget Football Organization for use of Bradshaw Park; and Columbus Youth Baseball Association for use of Centennial Park.

Tom Hunt, chairman of the board, said a majority of the organizations provide at least some level of compliance in regards to submitting reports, but one, CYBA, has not provided the required information since at least 2004.

“The teeth issue is for one organization that supplies nothing,” Hunt said. “We get reports from basically all organizations except one ... the CYBA. We get nothing from them. He (CYBA President and City Councilman Ron Schilling) seems to have a different perspective.”

When asked to comment on the matter, Schilling said he had no comment, because: “I’m not going to get into a pissing match with the park board.”

The youth baseball association encompasses more than two dozen teams and about 300 players. The estimated combination of league fees and fundraisers should yield more than $20,000 annually, which is required to be accounted for under the contract with the city.

According to Hunt, the board is not trying to make program operations more cumbersome, but to enhance information sharing and communication, not only to assist the board and the organizations but also the current and future participants of those programs.

By reviewing and possibly reformatting the contracts for greater uniformity and requiring an annual presentation of the appropriate reports in person by a representative of the organization as well as requiring an annual update of the president and board rosters, Hunt said, citizens would know whom to contact for information about programs and raise awareness of the organizations’ contractual obligations.

“I got a call Saturday from a gal whose son played soccer at Wilderness Park. The park was locked up” with her vehicle in the parking lot, he said. “She called the Columbus Police Department and they gave her my name. I haven’t had keys to that facility for three or four years.

“My biggest concern is a matter of knowing whoever the president is or who is basically in charge of each one of the facilities,” he said.

A Telegram review of the contracts, showed only one with the name of the organization’s president printed below the signature, many of which are illegible, making it difficult to decipher who actually signed the contract.

A reporter who contacted many of those who signed the contracts found some were still the head of the organization, some had stepped down but were still involved and others were no longer associated with the organization.

Hunt said he understands president and board changes may be made following the filing of a report, but as long as it is updated annually the city is able to get in contact with the immediate predecessor, and it is unlikely a full board would turnover in less than a year, so someone involved could be reached.

“If an organization were to send us this information in November and elected a new officer in January, at least they gave us the” most up to date information at the time, he said.

By meeting once a year the board will know whom to contact within each organization, he said.

“They need to see us, and we need to see them,” Hunt said.

It would also provide an opportunity to discuss potential future improvements so the board and organizations can make decisions that would benefit both the parks and the programs.

“The organizations that work well with the parks department tend to get a lot of those things done,” he said. “This is an attempt to work with these folks, not circumvent or change what they are doing or how they are doing things.”

The majority of those agreements were first signed and approved more than five years ago. Each contract has a clause that automatically renews the contract for another year unless either party, the board or the organization, notifies the other in writing, at least 30 days prior to the renewal date, of either proposed amendments or termination of the agreement.

According to those agreements, each organization is required to provide the park board, at the end of their respective seasons, a complete financial report, a summary report providing either participation numbers, games played or facility usage, and a report of projects completed and projects planned by the organization for the coming season.

The contract also requires that the organizations agree to use all profits, after expenses, derived from use of the city property, be utilized on improvements to the respective park’s facilities.