A routine board item–solidifying the makeup of a committee–was anything but Tuesday as Orange County Supervisors disagreed on the liaisons to the new parks and recreation committee.
The entity, which was created earlier this year at the suggestion of District 1 Supervisor Jason Capelle, is intended to be a way for the community to become more connected to parks and recreation and its offerings. Each district is represented by a member appointed by that respective supervisor. Those members were approved earlier this month and include District 1, Meghan Lopez; District 2, Jerald Atkins; District 3, Jamie Coleman; District 4, John Madison; and District 5, Craig Makufka. Coleman is the husband of District 4 Supervisor Crystal Coleman, causing Capelle to voice opposition to the appointment–something that again came up Tuesday.
After supervisors selected former longtime athletic director Marc Cole and District 3 school board member Jack Rickett as the committee’s at-large members, the conversation switched to appointing two board liaisons.
Supervisor Coleman said she thought the issue was already decided at a previous meeting, with board members selecting herself and Capelle as the liaisons. District 5 Supervisor and board chair Bryan Nicol said he had also expressed interest in the position and nothing had been decided. Both District 2 Supervisor Ed Van Hoven and District 3 Supervisor Keith Marshall took themselves out of the running.
“I have no credentials to be on that liasonship,” Van Hoven said.
Coleman does, however.
“I have a lot of credentials and feel pretty passionate about it so I’m still eager to serve,” she said.
Capelle said he, too, wants to serve as the committee was his idea. However, he said, he didn’t think it was a good idea to have the board representative be the spouse of a committee member.
“This is an advisory board with no voting power,” Coleman said. “It’s a board of folks who should have a lot of credentials to bring to the table so that we can bring some [progress] to parks and recreation. The board appointed my husband because we shouldn’t exclude folks who have something to bring to the table just because their spouse serves on the board.”
She said other boards exist in the county with familial ties to board members and have voting power and she wouldn’t exclude herself or deny the county her expertise because her husband was appointed to the committee.
Marshall voiced his support for Coleman, stating since she was a child in local parks and recreation programs she had valuable expertise that no resume could replace.
“I actually worked in parks and recreation in my career,” Nicol said. “We can all talk about how great we are, we’ll do that for hours and hours and bore [everyone] to tears.”
Nicol said his concern stemmed from a private conversation with Coleman in which she said, if her husband were appointed, she would not seek the liaison position. Coleman disagreed stating she said she would consider not seeking the position and did that, but decided not to deny the county her experience and expertise. She suggested discussing credentials and voting on the liaisons.
Nicol said if Coleman wants to “flip flop” on what she told him, she could. He didn’t wish to delay the decision further.
Capelle reiterated that Coleman serving would be a “bad look” He said Coleman’s spouse was already chosen over very qualified applicants.
“It’s amazing to me I come on this board, have an idea and there’s a huge fight over it now,” Capelle said. “I don’t understand how we can’t understand. In my world, it’s not enough to avoid conflicts of interest. You have to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. It’s a conflict to have a spouse on; it’s a triple conflict to have a spouse and liaison.”
Coleman said it wasn’t a fight and her constituents were passionate about parks and recreation.
“I promised the citizens I would give all I’ve got,” she said.
Nicol made a motion to appoint Coleman as liaison which was seconded by Marshall and approved 3-2 with Nicol and Capelle dissenting. A second motion approving Capelle was unanimously approved.
