I’m just now getting around to Hoggard’s July 11 post on the Geeensboro Parks and Recreation Commission’s hard work on the $10 million aquatic center, which is part of the $20 million parks and rec bond on the November ballot.

Hogg goes into great detail, but two paragraphs sum it up:

Two weeks ago I received an email indicating that the city manager’s office had decided to go ahead and include a $20M bond for this year’s ballot. This was a surprise to everyone – including the P&R staff. Even though I had suggested during a previous P&R meeting that because our needs where so great in the area of facility re-investment, it would be a good idea to request the Manager’s office to give us a slot this year, I was told – in no uncertain terms – that this year was NOT our turn. It was the Transportation Department’s turn at the ballot.

Emails were sent in an attempt to re-convene the P&R’s CIP subcommittee to mull over this new development, but in the end, things moved too quickly and we never got back together in advance of Director Bonnie Kuester’s presentation to Council. The P&R staff was forced to hurriedly compile a list of needs totalling $20M to be included in November’s bond offering. When the list was sent out to me, it included mostly the “foundation repair” stuff that was identified for 2010 inclusion.

So you see what’s going on. Hogg calls out City Council members who questioned Parks and Rec director Bonnie Kuester’s professionalism because the weren’t impressed with her presentation. But note the Rhino’s John Hammer wasn’t impressed either, nor was he all that impressed with transportation director Adam Fischer’s presentation of the $134 million transportation bond.

Yet Hammer knew something was wrong, noting that Kuester “is usually impeccably prepared,” while Fischer is “usually well-prepared for Council’s questions.” And if Hammer, no friend of city government, recognizes city staff’s professionalism, then it must be real. So excuse us for thinking that City Manager Mitchell Johnson is micro-managing the bonds, hanging staff members out to dry in the process.

You definitely got that feeling when watching Johnson’s empassioned defense of the decision not to include the pool on the bond when he was questioned about it by Council member and pool advocate Mike Barber. Johnson offered to let Kuester speak to the issue, which would have been preferable, yet he continued on and on about the costs of a covered pool versus a regionwide aquatic center. He was clearly the expert.

Thinking about this shouldn’t make you feel real good about a $20 million parks and rec bond. It should make you feel worse about a $134 million transportation bond.