Liberty's Blog

Galveston Parks Board under fire

Galveston County Daily News Reports

Standing at the podium in the park board conference room, Chuck Coburn was admittedly upset.

He was unhappy with his nine bosses: each trustee appointed by city council to oversee the $15 million organization.

And he’s not alone. Many of the 70 or so other park board employees say they agree with Coburn.

At the crux of the problem is an upcoming search for a next board executive director and the loss earlier this month of the former board head — Charles “Gil” Langley — who resigned after just 11 months on the job.

“The board has made a bunch of mistakes,” Coburn said during the public comment period at Tuesday’s park board meeting. “We are paying all these presidents or directors a large amount of money and now we are looking at hiring another one. I don’t think it needs to happen.”

Lets see if I understand this correct. They have 9 trustees, that are appointed political hacks, and tend to make expencive mistakes. They aren't accountable to anyone, the city council is afraid to overide them. They believe that they are not accountable to what the voter wants. Should we be surprised that things are screwed up? but wait it gets even better:

Trustees faced a barrage of criticism Tuesday — from employees and the general public. Some community members said it was time for a change in the board’s makeup, others suggested disbanding the government body altogether.

Now we come to the obvious, lets just get rid of the board. a board that doesn't care a wit what the people want, and let the city take responcibility. The Parks board as it stands now is unneeded, unwanted, and too expencive.

All this comes as the board is deciding if, when and how to begin a search for a new executive director. A three-trustee committee on Tuesday recommended choosing a final candidate by mid-August — preferably from the Texas or Gulf Coast markets.

Is this because they feel that no one in Galveston is qualified? This explains their attitude about seawall parking. They don't have a very high opinion of the people in their city.

posted by Liberty @ 6:31 AM