https://stefandensmore.com/accomplishments/
3.19.24 An earlier version of the post “Bringing Back the Recreation Commission” reported that the previous recreation commission had operated without quorum for a number of years. It was subsequently brought to the Mayor Densmore’s attention that the commission had voted to change how many commission members were required to operate, reportedly resolving any legal issues raised in the initial post. As noted in the updated post, the rules for determining how many commission members are required changed in 2019, when the village charter changed. Under the new charter, commission membership requirements can be changed by village ordinance. Mayor Densmore has found no such ordinance changing the membership requirements of the recreation commission, and has asked legal counsel for review. The post has been updated in the interim to be neutral on this issue while the search for the relevant ordinance continues.
The original post read as follows:
In January of 2020 Mayor Densmore created a Plan to Relaunch the Recreation Commission, which had disintegrated. The plan included the creation of a Community Engagement Committee to recruit the necessary number of commissioners. Frustratingly, two months later the COVID Pandemic struck and the full efforts at community engagement, and public recreation in general, were put on hold in the interest of public safety. Last year, with national confidence rising about the safety of public gatherings, the community engagement committee was able to effectively recruit community support for several successful community events. With these positive results, this year the community engagement committee began actively recruiting for the new Recreation Commission.
Incumbent on the successful launch of a new Recreation Commission is an understanding of why the old one eventually failed. In his first year in office, Mayor Densmore identified the cause. The old Recreation Commission had not been in compliance with its own operating codes for a number of years, having too few members to legally spend money. The remaining four members of the commission (not enough to have quorum) attempted to continued to operate the commission, but eventually burned out. There was a failure of community engagement, both in terms of recruiting new membership, and in terms of seeking more broad based input from the community, about recreational activities of interest. Operating with too few members is not only against the law, it is a failure of the commission’s mission to serve the recreational needs of the entire diverse membership of our community. Mayor Densmore’s successful response through community engagement has produced a slate of diverse community members, enough to fill the positions well beyond quorum for the new Recreation Commission!