Shake Up At Mill Creek Park

[jay]

Read the editorial in the Sunday, September 16, newspaper.

Evidently the Park Board is also stone walling the newspaper when information is requested.

[Towntalk]

Well said. We should be that way always.

Always ask for two independent sources for any story and not just hang our hat on one.

Also, be very cautious about looking for grand conspiracies under every rock.

[Mary_Krupa]

Nevertheless, there is more to this story than meets the eye reading the Vindy. I am sure he wants to be with his family but there is another issue which cannot be discussed on this message board. There also may be other reasons.

Also, why was he not presented to the public two years ago as a temporary employee?

I take every written article with a grain of salt as well as the spoken word unless it is from a 100% trusted source. God bless the Vindicator and Dan Ryan.

[Towntalk]

The Vindy gives a more detailed explanation.

Mill Creek MetroParks chief retires


http://www.vindy.com/news/2012/sep/15/parks-chief-retires/

[Towntalk]

A bit of history first. Mill Creek Park was laid out by an out of town man ... the man by the way that designed Central Park in New York City and a number of national parks.

Secondly, Mill Creek Park is a part of the state park system that just happens to be overseen by local people.


That being said, who is there locally that is qualified to run the park? Mill Creek Park is not your average city park that any blame fool could manage using a lick of common sense. Members of my own family, my Uncle to be specific was involved in state parks in Pennsylvania, and it's no easy task let me tell you.

Mill Creek Park is a national treasure, and needs a director that is highly qualified both in terms of experience and education, and there are few if any locals who fill that bill.

Now the question come to the Park Commissioners themselves which is a whole new matter. Are they working in the best interests of the park? Are they fulfilling Volney Rogers vision for the park? That's a whole different debate that we should be having.

[jay]

how would you select the next pk dr?

I don't believe hiring people from out of town is always the best.  The last two hires didn't last long did they?

I would like to have the public involved in the screening process.  Our public library did this recently.

[Towntalk]

I guess you may be right about Wolk's past ... the Vindicator still promotes him so I guess that all is forgiven, BUT until the day he can get a show on a 5000 watt station such as WKBN-AM 570 instead of a small cracker barrel crystal set station, I'll not waste my time listening to him.

Consider this Wolk has been in the radio business for years yet he still can't get a show on a major local station.

Mangino started off on the New Castle station and worked as a fill in at WKBN for several years before he got his own show on WKBN and today he has a show on superstation KDKA a 50,000 watt powerhouse.

When a talker has to jump from one crackerbarrel 250 watt station to another, it's obvious that he's a not for primetime personality.

[iwasthere]

its water over the dam.

[Towntalk]

 Youngstown radio personality Louie Free says he'll eventually discuss federal tax charges filed against him, but his lawyer says not now.
Free, whose real name is Louis A. Wolk, is charged with three counts of filing false tax returns.
The bill of information alleges that Free failed to file returns for the years of 2004, 2005 and 2006.
According to the bill, Free earned gross income of $74,150 for 2004, $46,810 for 2005 and $17,945 for 2006.
The allegations come after an investigation involving the Youngstown office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

[Towntalk]

Before I believe a single word that Louie Free says, I want ABSOLUTE DOCUMENTATION THAT IS ADMISSABLE IN A COURT OF LAW and not just the word of a tax dodging loser of a talk show that has so few listeners that it's not even rated by Arbatron.

You're implying that WKBN News is lying and base your judgement on Free as if he is the modern day Dan Ryan.

If at 12:00 Noon Free says that it's high noon in Youngstown, I will look at the clock to verify it. I will not take his word for it.

[jay]

According to one radio talk show this morning, there is a lot more to this story than a simple retirement.

[Towntalk]

For my part, I'm not into conspiracy theories. Having spent many years in the media I've learned that the facts (truth) more often than not are simple.

In this case, Mr. Johnson is living here while his family is back in Wisconsin. Now, he wants to get back with his wife and children. Is that so difficult to understand?

This is an issue between Mr. Johnson and the board, and to be perfectly honest none of our cotten picking business.

I've known many people who were brought in to do a job with the understanding that once the goal was reached they would leave, and apparently that's the case here, otherwise why didn't he bring his family with him.

[iwasthere]

tt i beleive he was getting into this fracking issue well over his head that he was not prepared to deal with all the onslaught from joe public. sam and co will learn the same lesson if they give carte blance on the mineral rights at meander lk.

[Towntalk]

MAKING A MOUNTAIN OUT OF AN ANT HILL.

Some folks are making a mountain of an ant hill over Mill Creek MetroParks before they had all the facts so here are the facts.

THE FACTS AS REPORTED ON WKBN 27:

The executive director of Mill Creek MetroParks is retiring after two years on the job.

Clarke Johnson said in his letter of resignation that he is retiring effective Sept. 27 in order to spend more time with his family in Wisconsin.

Johnson's letter said the park's master planning process is nearly completed.

"We've got the master plan completed and this is an opportune time for transition," Clarke said. "You know we wrote the playbook, and now it's time for a new coach to come in and develop it and move forward."

A special park board commissioners meeting was scheduled for Tuesday to accept Johnson's resignation and to appoint a new executive director.

Sources said the Metro Park's current golf director Dennis Miller, who recently represented the Mahoning Valley playing in the U.S. Open Championship, is being considered as Johnson's replacement.

Johnson, who is retired from the Wisconsin State Park Service said, he was going home to "be with my family, to go to football games, as my son is a high school coach, to hunt (pheasant season starts soon), to fish, to sail and to walk in the Wisconsin forests with my wife and enjoy the autumn covers."

[iwasthere]

The MCP Board selected candidates don't last in the job very long.  A new method of picking the next park director is in order.

how would you select the next pk dr?