Monessen will keep rec board in place

By KRISTIE LINDEN

klinden@yourmvi.com

Saturday’s meeting between Monessen City Council and the recreation board went well enough that the mayor isn’t going to make a motion to dissolve the board Tuesday night.

The meeting probably went better than either side anticipated going in, as tensions between the two groups have been building since early February. Accusations and strained dialogue have dominated the narrative largely carried out in the three council meetings that led up to this joint meeting. 

Last week, Mayor Matt Shorraw said he was tired of the drama and interpersonal issues among recreation board members and he wanted to dissolve the board.

Council members Lois Thomas and Don Gregor pushed back on that idea, saying they wanted to give the board a chance to meet with council and come up with solutions.

At one point, Thomas said she didn’t understand why Shorraw wanted to dissolve the board when the members have all agreed to make whatever changes are asked of them.

Shorraw said that was only one piece of the puzzle because “we still have some serious interpersonal issues on the board. So that has to stop. All of the animosity between all of the board members, whatever is going on, the miscommunication, it has to stop.”

Interpersonal issues

Thomas said the city has to give the board time to learn to work together as two new members just joined in January. Thomas said it’s the same with any group of people, it takes time for them to get to know each other and learn how to adjust and get along.

Thomas pointed to city council members’ behavior toward one another. She said it’s gotten a lot better over the past year, but that took a lot of time and it still isn’t perfect.

Gregor agreed, except he said the differences between board members weren’t operational in nature — they were personal and animosity took the form of personal attacks. Gregor said if someone on the board has a question, it shouldn’t be an opening for an attack.

“And just because someone said something someone didn’t like, this sniping back and forth, has got to stop,” Gregor said. “It’s bad enough here, I’ve been on council and there’s been some animosity on council and I’m sure it’s going to continue.”

“This is the pot calling the kettle black,” Thomas said. “How can we tell these guys to stop when the council is no better?”

Shorraw said she is right and it takes both sides to do that.

“If you want to meet someone halfway, that doesn’t mean one person comes 75% and the other person doesn’t,” Shorraw said.

To read the rest of the story, please subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at http://monvalleyindependent.com.