Myster Man.....Mayor Szabo.....Commissioner Wagoner....(click to enlarge)
The November 10th Town Council meeting is being broadcast on channels 77 or 45 at 1am, 12pm and 8pm courtesy of the Oakland Communications Commission. This is a must see meeting for those residents with an interest in recreation, town government, and Oakland history.
The meeting, with approximately 200 residents in attendance, devoted a substantial amount of time to the public session which stretched over an hour and a half. The parade of speakers began with one of the Recreation Commission’s most vocal critics, Frank Monaco, who voiced support to keep the independent commission in lieu of the mayor’s proposal to hire a full-time recreation director. Having been an active participant in the Oakland community for near forty years, Monaco spoke on themes that were to be echoed by the majority of Oakland residents who spoke.
Maintaining the culture of volunteerism was one major theme, and dismay that the council would consider spending money on a salaried position was another. The proposed recreation director position is estimated to cost approximately $103,000 with the funds being extracted through higher recreation fees. More than one resident spoke to the financial hardship some families would encounter with the potential of having to pay hundreds of additional dollars in fees; and, others raised questions of the long term investment of having to provide pension & benefits to a salaried employee.
There were numerous residents who spoke to the quality of Oakland’s recreation program, their respect for the efforts put forth by the existing commission, and a desire that the council seek to work out their differences with the commission before seeking to hire a recreation director which would report directly to the mayor and council.
While many residents came to voice support for the independent commission, others came seeking answers as to the basis of the mayor’s proposal detailed in a previously released report. There was a lack of specifics with respect to what compliance issues the existing commission was failing to fulfill, and obvious disagreements on both compliance issues and the efforts made by the council to resolve outstanding issues.
The mayor stated his belief that countless meetings on the subject have not produced results, but both recreation commissioners and other members of the council believed the situation called for additional efforts. Closed door meetings between various council members and specific commissioners have been held over the years, but the entire council and commission has not met for over six years. This fact has led to the scheduled meeting between the recreation commission and the town council on December 15th.
Some of the most moving statements offered by speakers during the public session provided a small history lesson for more recent residents of Oakland. One recreation commissioner, Neil Malmud, invoked the memory of Lorraine Murray who once managed the recreation program books from her kitchen table. Explaining they have come a long way since those days, the reference reflected the feelings of many speakers who see the all volunteer program as a part of Oakland’s history and tradition .
The number of speakers at the November 10th meeting were numerous, but all proved well spoken, respectful, and heartfelt in their assessment of the situation. It is certainly a meeting to watch, and can be seen on Verizon’s channel 45, or Cablevision’s channel 77, at 1am, 12pm and 8pm.