By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Two downtown business owners, Howard Hall of Candy Corner and Lauren Baker of Underground Computers, announced plans Wednesday night for a petition drive to force a change from an appointed city Parks and Recreation Board to an elected panel.
Hall made a formal presentation to about 25 people attending the Cass County Democracy Club meeting at Round Oak Restaurant. He said they need 180 signatures gathered within 90 days.
"Once it's on the ballot, how can anyone argue that it's not good to have open government or that it's good to have closed meetings?" Hall asked. "If the people who are on there now want to run, by all means, let's get a board together that can work together."
Baker said, "If you feel passionate about something, you tend to want to be involved and to have your hands in it. Maybe that's how our city government is, but you end up spreading yourself thin. One positive thing about bringing in new elected people is that we're going to tap into new sources of energy in the community that are not busy doing all of these other things for the city already."
"The majority of people sits back and says, 'Somebody should do that,' instead of, 'I should do that,' " Baker said. "We may not be able to make everything in this city perfect the way we want it individually, but we can start with the kids and with some of the problems we have with an elected board with new energy. We could change a lot with people who are just focused on this one thing."
Baker said "Parks and Recreation Board" contains two parts, of which only one is being addressed by the administration.
"Where are actual recreation programs?" she asked. "You don't just go to a park and sit alone, hoping to meet people. Usually you go with a group of people for events. We're lacking (recreation) that enables us to utilize and care about the parks."
Baker claimed Haggin-Wimberley Bandstand in Beckwith Park is only utilized once a week in the summer for concerts.
County Commissioner Johnie Rodebush, D-Howard Township, questioned the application process by which the city appoints members.
Hall sought appointment to the Parks and Recreation Board unsuccessfully. "If you're not a well-liked, quiet resident, you don't get appointed." He was approached by residents at Chestnut Towers about serving on the Housing Commission "because they knew I would stand up for their concerns. The day I asked the mayor about it, the very next meeting he appointed someone else."
Sue Miller asked about the recreational expertise of appointees.
Hall responded, "I spent all last summer as a camp director for Campfire USA. I was in charge of hundreds of kids and a staff of over 40. When I didn't get appointed, I (reviewed) the other applications. Nobody on that board has any great deal of experience working with kids or putting youth activities together. If parks board was an elected position and you don't like what you're getting," board members could be voted from office.
Hall said he invited various city officials to defend having an appointed board, "but apparently they were busy and couldn't make it."
Hall reiterated his contention that the city charter "very clearly states" that a Parks and Recreation Board must meet monthly and offer youth programs.
"They take care of the sports complexes with new mowers, but there are no programs for the kids. A lot of kids don't play sports – or can't afford to. Even if it was just a one-week day camp in the summer with structured activities. Or you could run an after-school program. The churches can't do it all on their own. And you can't just pick and choose what parts of the charter you want to follow."
"They didn't even have the board at all until I brought it to their attention," Hall said, "so they appointed a board which hasn't done anything. We still don't have anything for kids in town. The last time we had a half day of school, the police were busy breaking up fights. One was in front of the library because there's no place else for them to go."
Hall said an elected parks board would add concerned parents to the mix.
"Right now it's all city officials or city employees," Hall said. " You're not getting a fair representation of the City of Dowagiac. There are no low-income people on this board. I think we had an elected board it would actually think of the residents of Dowagiac. Go to boards and commissions on the Dowagiac Web page. It's all the same names on all the boards. It's like a little club, and that club needs to be broken."
"Right now," Hall continued, "our (advisory) Parks and Recreation Board is closed to the public. People like Lauren who would like to volunteer their time to do something with the kids, they can't even go to the board to voice their concerns. They've only had two meetings since it started a year and a half ago, and that's not fair to the kids of Dowagiac."
Hall believes most programs available center on sports and are priced beyond the reach of ordinary Dowagiac residents.
"I'm trying to key on lower-income residents with the elected board who can't afford $100 for sports," Hall said.
Miller noted the basketball team wears matching $128 shoes, for which players must sell 28 boxes of cookies at $13 or $15 a carton or pay the difference.
"An elected board would guarantee the residents of Dowagiac great input into what they want and suggestions they may have. An elected board would give a cross-section of the community of minorities, women, low-income residents. If it went through, I'd even like to see a youth council put together to bring to the Parks and Recreation Board some of the ideas they have. What better way to know what the youth of Dowagiac need going through life and having skills than to have an outlet for them to speak?"
Hall also contends an elected parks board "would be more interested" in seeking grant money. "I gave the city a CD that had 40 to 50 outlets to look for grant money so they could do something for the kids of Dowagiac. They took it from me and ignored it. They haven't done anything with it."
Hall also said citizens might not know park property was going to be sold until City Council approved the sale.
Howard Township has an elected parks board.
"I did some research on the Internet last night and today and I found over 90 elected in Michigan. It's not uncommon. It's actually something that's done more than probably people realize," Hall said.
Addressing his observations to Silver Creek Township officials in attendance, Hall commented, "A Recreation Authority probably would be a pretty good idea. At City Council, they even went so far as saying swimming pool. The city's going to come to different townships, just like the parks millage, and they're going to ask you for a tax increase to put into this big kitty, so we can have a swimming pool and other things in Dowagiac. I don't think that's viable. I don't think people are going to pay an extra tax to have a rec authority – and you guys shouldn't have to because our city charter very clearly states that a Parks and Recreation Board will be put together and meet monthly. You shouldn't have to have your taxes raised so Dowagiac youth have something. The city charter should be followed, and an elected parks board would do that."
Judy Corak of Pokagon Township said she feared control of a recreation authority would also rest with government rather than with the people.
"I'd be more comfortable with it if it was started by private individuals," she said.
"That's a good point," Hall said. "I didn't come here to talk bad about the City of Dowagiac. I actually came here to inform you. But one reason the City of Dowagiac didn't like the parks millage through Cass County is that it had no control over who was on the board. As long as you have a city or township having total control, it's a bad thing – especially when that board or commission is closed to the public. It's more like a dictatorship than open government. I'm big on open government."
Baker, whose business on Pennsylvania Avenue faces the post office, repairs computers. She said she mentors 13 kids, giving them opportunities to earn computers and offering free classes.
"Right inside the door to my store is a big banner, 'Youth activities.' I've had it up for almost two months to post things for teen-agers to do. It's a central location for kids coming in and out all the time, so maybe we can help them or parents who are new to the area to find things to do."
So far, however, it's a blank surface.
In other business, Line Henriksen, Michigan director for the Institute for International Cooperation and Development (IICD) on Dailey Road, explained how volunteers are trained for small-scale development programs in Zambia, Mozambique, Namibia, Malawi and South Africa in southern Africa.
Sixty volunteers a year spend six months of their 14-month commitment in Dowagiac, learning language and about every aspect, from teaching skills to tropical diseases.
In Zambia, they impart vocational skills to street kids. In Mozambique, they work in teacher colleges. Other volunteers address the HIV/AIDS "epidemic which is ravaging southern Africa," said Henriksen, a Norwegian who has been in Dowagiac since 1999.
Dec. 1 was World AIDS Day. There are 28.5 million people of 40 million people infected with HIV living in southern Africa.
In some countries the disease affects a third of the adult population, leaving millions of children orphaned.
"We continue to be a community organization in Dowagiac," Henriksen said. "We worked with PAL, the Police Athletic League." They have learned farming in the springtime in Cassopolis and beekeeping from Jim Jerue. "We'd like to be a more active force. We usually help with Habitat for Humanity."