From Staff Reports

The Asheville Parks and Recreation Department came under fire last week, as a new report by the cityís Finance Department said that the agency routinely mismanaged money while overseeing $10 million in projects.

Among the allegations made were that the parks department spent money meant for greenways on soccer fields instead, and overspent on projects at Memorial Stadium and Richmond Hill Park.

The report by Ashevilleís chief financial officer, Ben Durant, tracked work on eight projects since 1996.

Durant called the management of those projects ìmostly inadequateî and alleged that expenses were frequently charged to the wrong project budgets.

In one case, the parks department reportedly spent $400,000 from a state grant on soccer fields at Azalea Park that was meant to be spent on greenways.

The project to build a playground, dog park and other facilities at the park is currently $226,519 over budget, the report said.

Furthermore, because the state funds were not spent on what they were allotted for, the state will not reimburse the money to the city.

The report also indicated that the parks department made numerous spending changes without consulting with City Council and has put at risk $648,000 in state funds for greenways and improvements at Memorial Stadium.

The report was requested by City Manager Gary Jackon after a number of budget overruns, shortfalls and implementation delays by the parks department.

Roderick Simmons, who became parks director in April, said he plans to implement the reportís reccomendation, including hiring a $66,000-a-year business manager to oversee the departmentís projects.

City Council approved funding for that position at its Sept. 18 meeting.

The previous parks director, Irby Brinson, who retired in December, said that such transferrals of funds from one project to another were commonly practiced among other city departments. Brinson had served as director since 1995.

He acknowledged that there were management problems, but said the department was doing the best it could with limited funds.

However, some council members expressed concerns about the transferral of money from one project to another. City departments are supposed to seek approval from Durantís office to do so and are prohibited from spending more than what is budgeted for a project without further approval from council.The Richmond Hill project, which includes vehicle access and a disc-golf course at the 162-acre park, was cited as an example of parks officials spending money they were not authorized by council to use.

At one point, the department had exceeded its $87,076 budget for the project by $28,000.

Most of that money was the result of an oral agreement between the department and a vendor, a purchase which should have been approved by council and made in writing, according to the report.

At Memorial Stadium, the parks department has gone $307,765 over budget after a private donor reneged on an oral agreement.

Asheville Splash, a now-defunct womenís soccer team, had promised to pay $300,000 for new artificial turf at the park, but did not pay.

After that deal fell through, the project went into debt, jeopardizing a $248,800 state grant.

The department has since been granted a one-year extension and may still be able to use the state funds.

Parks officials say they have been trying to do too much with too little. A 1999 vote on a construction bond for the department and a takeover of some county facilities failed, leaving parks and recreation in financial straits.

During Brinsonís tenure, private fundraising and grants sometimes accounted for as much as 70 percent of the departmentís budget.

The department also has earned high honors during that time, winning a Gold Medal in 2002 from the National Recreation and Park Association for being the top recreation department in the country that year.