The park, which is owned by the City of Union, has served as the home of Post 22 since 1947. The post leases the park from the city and operates it on behalf of local veterans and the rest of the community. Union County allocates $26,000 each year for the operation of the park. The money is given to the city, which passes it on to the park’s board of directors, a majority of whom are Post 22 members.
The operation of the park has come under scrutiny after the board voted in November to approve the purchase of a new car by then-post commander Herbert Johnson. The purchase was not approved at a formal meeting but by a telephone poll of the 12-member board, nine of whom Johnson said approved it. He then bought the vehicle for $13,900 and the trade-in of his old car, which he said he wore out doing post business.
Johnson resigned as commander in March after disagreements with some members over the operation of the park and administration of Post 22. He still serves as District 8 commander for the American Legion and still uses the car he bought in November.
A group of Post 22 members including Davis met Tuesday with Mayor Harold Thompson to discuss the park and the car. They presented Thompson with the results of an internal review of the operation of the park as well as the events surrounding the vehicle. Thompson said he would consult with the city attorney and meet with the group on Thursday.
Concerning the review of the vehicle purchase, Davis said he asked for written statements from the board members who supported the purchase of the car. Davis said four had given him statements confirming their support. The statements were included in the information given to Thompson.
Davis said the main purpose of the meeting was to ask the city to revise the lease to clarify the lines of responsibility for the operation of the park and related issues. He said he has researched the history and documentation of the park, uncovering some 12 documents, many of which date back to 1947. While they cover the operation of the park and Post 22’s responsibilities toward it, Davis said the documents are “often conflicting, contradictory, and confusing.” He also found that these documents were no longer providing guidance to the board and Post 22 for the operation of the park.
“It appears that none of the current board members or Post 22 members knew of all the documents that had or could have had a bearing on the operations of Veterans Park,” he said. “It further seems that, at some unknown point in the past, the historical continuity and guidance of those documents passed from the awareness of the board members.”
Davis said this has created a situation where the park appears to be operated based on the opinions of the board members and those they may have consulted rather than hard and fast rules. He said there was also a failure to regularly document the activities of the board, resulting in a loss of institutional memory required for proper administration of any organization or facility. While this has not prevented the park from being well-maintained over the years, Davis said it has resulted in an administrative “mess” that must be straightened out, beginning with a revised lease.
“From this meeting we expect the city will rewrite the lease to incorporate needed changes,” he said. “We we will then write a new constitution and by-laws — which will be approved by the city — and draft conforming guidelines.”
Davis gave Thompson a list of issues to be addressed by the city:
• Please define the legal responsibilities of the Board of Directors of Veterans Memorial Park.
• Can board members be compensated for their duties as members of the board?
• What is meant by “...expenses of creating and maintaining Veterans Memorial Park...” as stated in the originating millage statute? Examples?
• Revise the board membership as follows: “Each nationally chartered veterans organization in Union County is entitled to one member on the board. Post 22 will always have a majority membership on the board plus the chairman.
• “Board members are elected for a two-year term, not to exceed two consecutive terms after which they must sit out one year before becoming eligible for board membership. In forming a new board in 2009, two of the Post 22 members will have a one-year term and are eligible to be elected to one, two-year term (three years total) before rotating off for at least one year.”
• The chairman will be the Post 22 Commander or as stated in the Post 22 constitution and by-laws.
• The $500 amount, requiring Post 22 Executive Committee approval, should be increased to $2,600 to allow for inflation. ($500 in 1947 = $4,770 in 2008)
• Request that “undesirables” be removed from the lease and wording to allow the board to deny use of the facility by groups of questionable character.
• Add: “Vacancies on the board of directors will be filled through elections held by the appropriate veteran’s organization.”
• Insure that the revised lease includes the word that “Veterans Park is the Home of Post 22” as stated in previous documents.
• A completely new, “stand alone” lease incorporating these and other changes in addition to consolidating subleases where possible.
“I think when this is over we will have a well-documented set of guidelines for the operation of Veterans Park with complete transparency,” Davis said. “We look forward to serving better the veteran population in Union as well as the community.”
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