By Sterling McGinn
Recent issues with the Luce County Parks and Recreation Department prompted county commissioners to dissolve the parks and recreation board of directors and merge the director position with the government building and grounds maintenance position.
Newberry resident Ben Rahilly, who served as the parks and recreation director for about seven years, announced his resignation on June 13.
Rahilly told the Newberry News what led to his resignation: He had attempted to address recent physical abuse by a camper towards another camper at Luce County Park.
Rahilly, parks director, asked that individual to leave. Members of his board felt that he didn’t have the authority to remove anyone from the park, insisting the police should have been called.
“I didn’t feel I had any backing from the board, and I decided to resign,” Rahilly said.
The parks and recreation board advertised for a director following Rahilly’s resignation but received no interest.
In the meantime, both Luce County Park managers and one employee also left their positions.
At their July 15 meeting, the county commission unanimously approved eliminating the parks and recreation board.
County Commissioner Anthony Kitzman was in favor of having the director work under two county commissioners rather than a full board.
“The board is not in compliance right now,” he said. “Dissolving the board and putting it under two county commissioners would give quicker access to hiring people and faster decision making.”
The commission has the authority to dissolve the board and have parks and recreation handled by a committee, Kitzman said.
The parks and recreation board had seven members, with two of those being county commissioners. Parks and recreation is responsible for the Luce County Park, Big Valley Ski Hill, the barn ice rink, and the Newberry baseball fields.
Commission Chair Michelle Clark said that for the last two years, the parks and recreation director hadn’t brought new board members to the commissioners for approval.
“Parks and recreation board is supposed to pick their members, and it goes to the county board for approval,” she said. “It failed to happen, so technically we don’t have a board.”
Though the commission eliminated the parks and recreation board, Clark appreciates how local board positions give people an opportunity to serve and aid the county in decisions.
“We lose the dedication of those people and valuable members,” she said.
The commissioners ultimately decided to have a five-member advisory committee of those with a vested interest in parks and recreation to still be able to participate in matters pertaining to that department. All final decisions, however, including those of the budget, will be made by the entire board of county commissioners.
“I think we need to keep the community involved,” said Commissioner Tony Immel.
The advisory committee would meet with the director monthly where suggestions would be made to the director, who would take recommendations to the full board.
Art Green, a 15-year member of the parks and recreation board, said he would still like to participate.
The board also hired the current building and grounds maintenance person, Tyler Dumas, to serve in a dual role as the parks and recreation department. He will keep track of his time and submit the hours he worked under each department to be paid from funds from that specific department.
There will be six employees working for the parks and recreation department.
