Pierce County has a new recreation board, although the appointments did create some confusion at last Tuesday’s county commission meeting.
Timothy Griffis, Barrett Boatright, Brad Arington, Johnny Thigpen Jr. and Anna Saucedo were appointed as the inaugural members of the newly resurrected board.
The appointment process did not go smoothly however.
Commissioners were presented with a list of 10 names of those willing to serve on the board.
County Chairman Neal Bennett asked for clarification on how the appointment process would take place.
Commissioners had previously agreed the recreation board would have five members with the general consensus that one member will be appointed by the commissioner from each district and one at-large member appointed by County Chairman Neal Bennett. A county commissioner will also serve as an ex-officio member.
The members are to serve staggered terms and the ordinance also allows for a majority vote of the board to remove a member with the county commission’s approval. Board members will not be paid for their service.
Third district county commissioner Randy Dixon said he wanted the commission to appoint the members at the meeting.
“We don’t need to wait any longer. We don’t need any more delays. We don’t have a director and we need to make a decision,” he said.
While commissioners did agree to appoint a member from each of their districts, the representative appointed may or may not live in the district.
District one commissioner Rozier appointed Griffis, district two commissioner Streat appointed Boatright, district three commissioner Dixon appointed Arington and district four commissioner Lowman appointed Thigpen Jr. Bennett appointed Saucedo as the at-large representative.
Griffis was not on the original list. Others on the list, but not appointed, included Maureen Brown, Lauren Jowers Whitaker, David Dowling, Clint Hodges, Tyrone Harris and Cole Walsh.
Now that it has been established, the recreation board would approve its own bylaws.
There is no timeline for when the board will be operational, but Bennett suggested it should be by January.
The commission agreed to resurrect the board at its August meeting after local attorney Johnny Thigpen Jr. requested it be done.
Thigpen, who has children in the recreation program, has stressed the need for a recreation board — to include parents of children participating in the recreation department’s programs. He asked that the board answer directly to the county commission and bypass County Manager Jason Rubenbauer. Rubenbauer has since resigned as manager.
Rubenbauer hired the last three recreation directors. The longest tenure among them has been the most recent director, Will Watson. Watson resigned in July citing the need to take care of his ailing father.
Thigpen said the committee should have a leading role in the hiring of a new director.
Commissioners abolished the recreation board in 2011 after the City of Blackshear withdrew from a jointly operated recreation department.
The recreation board at that time had the right to hire and fire and make binding personnel, operational and regulatory decisions.
Even then, the board went through eight recreation directors in 10 years and held hours long meetings, including many featuring long closed sessions.
