Controversy in rec director hiring

NORTH CANAAN — A recreation director has been hired to oversee town programs and employees who work on them, as well as the use of the Lawrence Field Pavilion and the pool.

And the decision to do so, by the Park and Recreation Commission, has sparked a bit of controversy.

Adam Bunce, a North Canaan native, has already started getting things organized in his new job. A Hotchkiss School and Wesleyan University graduate, he has also worked as a football coach at Housatonic Valley Regional High School and at other coaching jobs around the region.

He is setting up communications via his laptop, which will serve as his portable office.

The position is a new one in North Canaan, which has long been the only regional town without a rec director.

The part-time pay is $15,000. The commission was able to add the position while still reducing the budget for the coming year by $1,500, to $70,600. Selectman Charlie Perotti called the directorship 10 years overdue.

Controversy over plan

Five members of the rec commission came to the Board of Selectmen’s meeting June 7, not to talk about the particulars of the deal, but to take issue with an e-mail they received from Selectman Susan Clayton.

The lengthy e-mail expressed Clayton’s frustration over not being advised of any of the details of the new hire. She was concerned about the timing of creating a new employee position during a tough economy.

But commissioners took issue with her tone. The subject of the e-mail, which was apparently forwarded to many town residents, called the hire “Recreation’s ‘shady’ deal.�

“I found it offensive,� said Tom Olownia, referring in particular to the shady deal remark. “Without knowing the facts, you write this in a letter.�

“I asked questions. I didn’t get any information,� Clayton replied.

She then accused the commission of seeking applicants for a job that would be paid from a budget that was not yet approved, and without full public disclosure.

She inferred nepotism in the hiring of Bunce, who is related to First Selectman Douglas Humes, and criticized the commission for turning “what generations of parents did as volunteers into a paid position.�

She questioned their decision not to seek a contract proposal from the YMCA.

Humes said that according to a 1976 town ordinance, the commission may hire and set salaries at its discretion. He said the commission properly went to the Board of Finance with its decision.

“I feel as offended as they do,� Humes told Clayton. “The commission does not answer to the Board of Selectmen. They can hire who they want.�

He said that he did not forward information to the selectmen because he assumed Clayton had gone to the May 12 finance meeting, where details of the new position were presented.

Clayton apologized to the commission numerous times.

Park and Recreation Chairman Earl Dakers told the selectmen that two people applied for the job.  Bunce’s application was the only one that was complete.

Dakers later told The Journal the commissioners have been working for several years on major changes. They also face yearly issues with the 35-year-old town pool. The town is saving up for a replacement pool.

They were reticent about contracting with the YMCA, which ran the pool for years — and never fully to the town’s satisfaction, Dakers said.

Seven years ago, the commission hired Darcy Victory to run it and things improved considerably. When Victory left at the end of last summer, the commissioners decided to institute further improvements.

The pool director’s job was expanded. Although it entails more hours, Bunce’s entry level salary will offset the difference.

There will be big changes to the summer recreation program, although, if all goes as planned, none will be apparent.

Linda Peppe will continue to run the three-week enrichment program. But instead of registration fees going to the town and the recreation commission struggling to pay for it out of its budget, the program will be run as a separate entity — in the same way as programs such as AHA! and youth soccer, Dakers said.

“We were looking at having to eliminate it,� Dakers said. “A few commission members actually wanted to cut it, but we are really proud of it. Linda does a phenomenal job and it’s important to offer that to the kids in town.

“It will have its own board of directors, and be self-sufficient. It will collect fees and programs can be planned based on what is available. We will have to raise the fees, and it will be a struggle for a few years, but in the end it will have the structure it needs to continue.�