By Hannah W. Wever

Published: April 17, 2008

Youth sports leagues participants will play ball at Booster Park this year, and the county government has agreed to spend $10,000 to help make it possible.
For the first time, Orange County officials have agreed to provide supplemental funding towards the maintenance and upkeep of the Booster Park facility.
That five-figure allowance, Orange Boosters Club President George Shifflett said, will make a significant dent in the expenses of things like machinery maintenance and fuel, applying lime and spreading grass seed on the playing fields, as well as repairing lights and fixtures throughout the park.
“You’ve got to have maintenance and upkeep,” he said. “You’re going to have those expenses no matter who administers it.”
And, Shifflett projected, since the county has decided to spend less on the parks and recreation department, Booster Field will likely see increased traffic, wear and tear.
“Our programs will be stronger, and we’d love to offer even more sports and activities,” Shifflett said. “The park is being opened up even more because of that $10,000.”
But when the issue of renewing the agreement between the county and the Boosters surfaced at last week’s Orange County Board of Supervisors meeting, the conversation was not without debate—and even accusations of unscrupulous management on the part of Boosters Club officials.
“The facilities are there. They’re not getting used and I think they should be. If it requires a few dollars for some grass and maintenance, I’m okay with that,” District 3 Supervisor Teel Goodwin said.
And District 4 Supervisor Teri Pace concurred. The county’s signature on the contract allows local youth sports league coaches, volunteers and parents to get more out of the organization, she said.
But board chairman Mark Johnson wasn’t as amenable to the agreement as his contemporaries. He didn’t like the arrangement, and he was staunchly opposed to signing the agreement.
“I know a scam when I see one and that’s what this is,” he said.
“This is a terrible agreement,” Johnson said. “It continues what has been a bad agreement for many years.”
It was the management of Booster Park by the Orange County Boosters Club that troubled Johnson the most.
“We’re rolling over and handing $10,000 to an organization that has already proven they don’t deserve to have this facility,” Johnson said.
“That’s a public property intended for youth sports being used as a money-making venue. It’s wrong for the county to be in a business relationship with this kind of organization. It’s wrong and it doesn’t make any sense,” he said.
“On one hand he says he’s got volunteers to take care of the place, and then he says he needs money for taking care of the place.”
Johnson said he suspected that members of the Boosters Club were acting unethically by renting the facility from the county for a dollar a year, and then charging third parties, like the All-American Bluegrass Jam, for use of the facility.
Pace said a sublet arrangement between the Boosters and the annual music festival didn’t concern her.
“If they rent it to someone to re-rent, if they make a couple of dollars, you have a problem with that?” she asked Johnson.
“You’re darn right I do!” he replied indignantly. “It says ‘for recreational purposes,’ it doesn’t say ‘for money-making purposes.”
“The community has volunteered time, but the Boosters have coordinated all of those capital improvements,” Pace explained.
Zack Burkett, the supervisors from District 2 said the most important issue was securing a facility on which county children could play sports as soon as possible. He advocated renewing the county’s agreement with the Boosters right away, he said.
“We’ll discuss the amount of support the county will give. Let’s get the kids playing and then straighten out the mess,” Burkett added.
And Lee Frame, the District 5 Supervisor, didn’t want to see community youth sports suffer, he said.
“I’m not particularly happy with this agreement but we’re talking about getting the kids out there playing. The side deals are really disturbing to me,” Frame said.
Goodwin said he found the idea of a profit-making side deal between Boosters officials and third parties to be abhorrent and intolerable.
“I do have an issue if we’re using county land for private profit,” Goodwin said.
But ultimately, he went on, the board should focus on creating a venue that’s convenient to county residents.
The board voted 4 to 1, with only Johnson dissenting, to renew the agreement with the Boosters, and to pay $10,000 towards facilities maintenance costs.
Shifflett said Johnson was basing his allegations of mismanagement on inaccurate information.
“He’s making statements he knows absolutely nothing about,” Shifflett explained. He worried the debate might tarnish the reputation of the Boosters Club.
“It gives the boosters a black eye, and rather than getting a pat on the back, you’re getting a kick in the rear,” he said.