Craig, Byrne Answers on Bonner Park Fail to Square with Truthby Leo CoughlinLARGO - The plot of the story that has focused on the signs warning of closing at Bonner Park thickened - or sickened - this week with some questionable responses from the city manager and the director of the Parks and Recreation Department. The responses were downright untruthful. For example, in answer to the question of who placed signs warning that the parks would be closed, here is the response of Mac Craig, the city manager - "The Parks personell (sic) did not place the signs. This was verified by the parks supervisor. If the city had placed the sign, it would not have said to call the listed phone number to express concern. The number listed was not city number. We do not know who placed the signs." The listed number on the sign is 586-7415. It is a city number. When it was called the woman answering said, "City of Largo, Recreation Division." Only three conclusions seem likely - Craig was given false information by someone in formulating his answer (quoted above), did not check the number himself, or just plain lied. Byrne, also queried, gave this answer - "I did not direct signs to be installed and neither did Mr. Craig. Neither of us knew about any signs until they were mentioned in an email from a citizen at which time I instructed that any signs be removed." Again, there is a problem with truth. The first burst of outrage from citizens over the idea that the parks would be closed occurred at the City Commission meeting July 7 when a large number of citizens showed up. That was on a Tuesday. The following Sunday, July 12, the signs were still there. Another large amount of citizens showed up at the July 21 commission meeting continuing to protest about park closings and that also based on signs that the people had seen. So signs were still there and, in fact, a second sign had been posted and that sign mentioned the phone number of the Parks and Recreation Department. The original signs, triggering the first reaction from citizens, said - "Due to budget cuts this park will be closing" The signs appeared at Bonner Park, at the western edge of the city, and at the Nature Preserve that is just east of Central Park down where Highland Avenue ends, south of East Bay. When those signs disappeared, another took its place. It said - "This Park Is Under Consideration To Be Closed. To Voice Your Concerns Call 586-7415 Or Log Onto (city web site)."These are the signs that Byrne said last week were taken down immediately. Not true, obviously. Craig says the phone number given is not a city number. Not true. One former city official said, "These breaches by public employees relative to their duty to taxpayers and the City Commission are almost irreparable and in almost any circumstance call for immediate dismissal. The ball is now in the commission's court." Reports from City Hall indicate that Mayor Pat Gerard had a tense confrontation with Craig last week. The flap over Bonner Park has torn the cover off the Parks and Recreation Department and has sparked a flood of questions. Among other things, it appears that a park supervisor, based on the Parks and Recreation Department's own figures, is paid $74,000, which seems like a whopping sum for a city employee - more than a police sergeant, for example, is paid. And when Byrne was asked in the budget process to cut $1 million from her budget she said that figure was the equivalent of 13 full-time positions. Do the math - that averages $76,923 per full time position. In turn, those figures give rise to the question of whether Parks and Rec employees are overpaid. The total budget for the department is bloated at some $25 million a year and, on top of that, the city subsidizes, to the tune of $1,000 a day, the Cultural Center, one of the many branches of the department. The department also runs an after school child care service, a program that brought questions from a citizen, Geoff Moakley, as to why the city is in that sort of business to begin with. The department also runs an after school child care service, a program that brought questions from a citizen, Geoff Moakley, as to why the city is in that sort of business to begin with.
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