An independent organization established recently to promote and support the Whitehall Recreation Center is becoming a bit too independent, at least in the eyes of some Town Board members.
During discussion of a request by the Whitehall Recreation Booster Club for town assistance in repurposing the existing tennis courts at the Rec Center, several board members voiced concerns that the club was moving forward with projects that should first come to the Town Board for approval.
“They can’t just do what they want to do,” said Supervisor John Rozell.
The booster club was organized last spring to be a vehicle for raising funds to support the rec center from sources not available to a government entity. At its initial public meeting, organizers outlined a three-year plan to raise money to expand the center’s offerings.
The replacement of the tennis courts, which were rarely used, with basketball and pickleball courts was the first major project the organization proposed.
The club should first present its plans to board Rec Committee members Timothy Kingsley and Stephanie Safka, who in turn should bring the ideas to the full Town Board for approval, Rozell said.
Safka said not only are the two not involved in the decision-making process, she had recently been “uninvited” from attending meetings of the club’s board of directors.
Both board members had been attending the club’s sessions prior to her being uninvited, she said.
The group’s early meetings were open to the public, but Safka said club officials told her that, as a private organization, they did not fall under state regulations that require government bodies to allow members of the public – or anyone else not a member of the organization – to attend their meetings.
Kingsley asked if rec center director Tim Martindale should be involved in the process, but Rozell said Martindale’s involvement in the approval process could be seen as a conflict of interest.
Martindale was reportedly traveling and could not be reached for comment.
Attempts to reach booster club members for response to the Town Board’s concerns were unsuccessful.
