I don’t want to flog a dead horse, but, over the past few days, a couple of interesting comments have been left on this site pertaining to the City Council’s decision last year to take back management of Riverside and Frog Island parks from the Depot Town CDC, and I thought that they should be moved up here to the front page. [For those of you new to this, I’d suggest you start by reading my last post on this topic before venturing any further.] The first letter comes from Erik Dotzauer, the head of the Depot Town CDC. And, following it, is an email sent recently by City Council member Brian Robb to a reader of this site, in response to a comment that he had left here.

Here’s the comment from Erik Dotzauer:

I debated whether or not to comment to this post, but I wanted to clarify our position so that community members can make informed conclusions and we can learn from the past and progress as a collective people committed to improving Ypsilanti. I’m sorry for the length of this comment and any redundant points that I’ve made in previous conversations on this site.

Prior to the CDC’s involvement with the parks, some city officials had stated that they were considering closing down the parks, due to not having enough money in their budget to maintain the parks. With this news, the CDC started to organize a plan that began by hiring Mueller Landworks to create a conceptual site plan for the parks, which we planned to implement. We paid for this service out-of-pocket, which was over $20,000. Shortly after, the City and the CDC came to an agreement and committed to a contract that gave the CDC management of Riverside and Frog Island Parks.

I want to again stress that the CDC entered into this relationship because our first and foremost priority is to improve the quality of life in the community. Well-maintained parks benefit the community; more people will spend time in the parks and in Depot Town and will consequently spend money at our local businesses. In this way, Ypsilanti’s money circulates and helps out the local economy. A few people have suggested that the CDC took on this project to gain power, make money, and have control over the parks and therefore have free reign to hold events and festivals; this is not the case. The CDC took this opportunity as a way to reinvest in local projects while creating a healthier environment for Ypsilantians to live and play. In total, the parks produced roughly $5,000 in income for the CDC in 2009.

During the year that the CDC managed the parks, we spent approximately $42,000 on maintaining the parks and all that it encompasses, while only making $5,000 in return; I hope that this demonstrates that we had no financial incentive but rather took on the project to improve the community.

On a different note, we’ve heard that a few community members feel like they have not had an opportunity to give their input in the process. Prior to the CDC taking over the park operations, we held a series of community meetings to which we invited community members to attend. At these meetings, we presented our conceptual plans and welcomed individuals to ask questions, give their opinions, and become directly involved in the design process. Other people still question if a non-profit should even be in charge of a public space that is traditionally run by the City. In response to this, I would like to point out that Central Park in New York City is maintained by a non-profit organization. Moreover, Riverside and Frog Island Parks were neglected for over ten years and consequently became rundown and attracted undesirable activities. Since the management of the parks transferred from the City to the CDC, many improvements (including a new dock and gazebo) have been made.

I would like to reiterate that the CDC is a private non-profit organization in which we raise all our money through our own means; taxpayers do not fund our operations. The one instance when we received taxpayers’ money is when the DDA allocated $5,000 annually for a three-year period to the CDC. I would like to emphasize that our organization is not unique in this way; the DDA also allocated $10,000 to the Crossroads Festival and $5,000 to Dressed, an Ypsilanti fashion show, among others. The CDC’s long-term goal is to generate enough money through events such as The Jamboree and ElvisFest to be a self-sustaining entity.

Some months ago during a council meeting, the name “Ypsitucky” and the commotion it caused was discussed; the ensuing discussion resulted in our contract being terminated. We were not aware that our performance was even an issue and were not given the chance, much less asked to respond to the allegations made against us. I would therefore like to take the opportunity to address the concerns pertaining to the CDC’s performance in the parks, including trash removal, lawn care, and flooding. I first want to start off by humbly saying that I’m not perfect, the CDC is not perfect. We made mistakes and we most definitely learned from them.

The CDC had an agreement with the Washtenaw County Sheriff Community Service Department outlining that they would pick up trash and empty receptacles in the parks every Monday. On Memorial Day, the clean-up crew did not pick up the trash in the park; I assumed that this was due to the holiday. However, they did not come the following Monday either. At this point, I contacted the department and discovered that there was a change in leadership and that the clean-up duties had fallen through the cracks. Let me stress that the neglect only happened two Mondays and was corrected as soon as possible. On the same note, some have complained that the CDC allowed its dumpsters to overflow, especially after events. The dumpster is managed by the City, and as such, it has never been the CDC’s responsibility.

Others have commented that the parks’ lawn was not maintained. On the contrary, the CDC had the grass cut as often if not more than the City did when they managed the parks. When the CDC first took responsibility for the parks, we consulted with the City and found that the grass had been mowed fourteen to sixteen times annually; we not only upheld this standard but also had the lawn mowed a few additional times in preparation for events.

Lastly, we have heard complaints about the “lake” which was caused by Huron River’s flooding. Let me start off by saying that the pool of water that formed was due to an act of nature, which I obviously had no control over. The CDC paid to have the water pumped once, but it rained shortly after and the pool reformed. Later when the water dried up and fish were left stranded, the CDC hired people to pick up the fish.

We can only hope that the City has realized the cost-saving benefits that it reaped when the CDC managed the parks. Just because they did not make any employee cuts when they turned over management of the parks, does not mean that it does not take any money to maintain them. Even if the City did not necessarily save money, they did save time and resources as their employees could put their energy into other projects.

Let me reiterate that the purpose of this post is not to further fuel the controversy. Like you, I live in Ypsilanti and want to see our town thrive and our quality of living improve. My intent is simply to clarify the facts so that the public can draw its own conclusions about what has happened and how we can move forward as a community.

And, here’s the note from Councilman Brian Robb to a reader of this site who calls himself the Kingpin. As the letter was unsolicited, and the author didn’t ask for it to remain private, the recipient left it here on the site, in a comment:

Like a lot of things in Ypsilanti, it’s less about the issues than it is about the argument. The DTCDC fight has gone on for nearly eight months. Why? Because people want it to continue. Because it continues, Council can be compared to Hitler, or you can call me an asshole, or you can accuse me of lying and never have to prove your side of the argument. Isn’t that awesome?

You may not appreciate my sardonic comments, but Maynard’s blog isn’t my blog and I don’t have office hours there. If you are really concerned about issues, email me, call me, or meet with me. When I’m not at work and you can’t reach me by email or telephone, I’m either Downtown or in Depot Town. I’m hardly a person that is difficult to track down.

The DTCDC originally wanted to be involved in the Freighthouse. For a variety of reason unrelated to the City, that fell through. They then wanted to manage the Riverside and Frog Island Parks.
One of the more unfortunate things to come out of the City Income Tax debate was the threat to board up and close the parks. And people question whether or not there was fear-mongering going on in that election?

The DTCDC started to organize their plan to manage the parks. I met with Sandee and Gerry French on many occasions to discuss this. Prior to this, I always had a good relationship with Sandee (she supported me in my first campaign) and the DTA. Depot Town is obiviously in my Ward and I was willing to give this a try.

The hope in all of this was that the Parks Department could be reduced to one person if, in addition to purchasing some new equipment, we privatized the City’s two largest parks. If that could happen, we would save money.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

When the Ypsitucky thing rolled around, I met with Gerry and Candace (along with the Mayor) and told him if they went with the name, the name could overshadow the event and hurt it. When the issue started building up steam, a petition opposing the name was circulated. Three Council members signed that petition: Bodary, Nickels, Schreiber.

Bodary and Nickels brought a resolution to Council opposing the name and that’s where you got involved. If you recall, I never opposed the name. I never said that if they changed the name, they could manage the parks again. I was even the one Council member who paid for his own tickets to the event. I brought up the motion to cancel the contract because it obviously wasn’t working out. For any partnership to work, it needs to be collaborative and not antagonistic.

It’s true, we transfered $22K from the Clerk’s budget to the Parks budget. So? It wouldn’t surprise me if we transfered it back out to fund Parkridge and the Senior Center. Just because we transfer money into an account doesn’t mean that’s what stuff all of sudden costs. Prior to approving that budget, there had been talks about not spending enough money on parks. Maybe you don’t know this, but we spent $4K on 400 cu. yards of fall protection (i.e. engineered wood chips) for the playground equipment in Propsect Park. Just because Andy Clock says something 100 times doesn’t make it true.

Remember, the argument is more important than the issue.

So there are my facts. When you get some of your own, give me a call and we’ll hang out.

And, once again, for what it’s worth, I’m not seeking to drag this out in order to hurt anyone in City government. This isn’t about retribution, as at least one reader has suggested. The reason I’ve posted on this a few times now is relatively simple. We, the taxpayers of Ypsilanti, were told, when the parks were first signed over to the Depot Town CDC, that the City would save upwards of $20,000 per year as a result. Now, in this letter, Mr. Robb states that the savings never materialized. And I’m curious as to why not. Why didn’t City Council compel the Parks Department to make the cuts which had been agreed to? And, yes, I know there are bigger budget items than this, and I know that we’ve got more serious problems to face as a community, but something isn’t right here. And, while it may only be $20,000 a year that we’re talking about here, it would put us that much closer to keeping one of the fire fighters that’s currently on the slate to be laid-off in March.