Coral Gables Historical Archive
The Times
Saturday, May 8, 1976, page 12 (of 27)
The page
The text of this pageRead by computer from the scan, so some words may be wrong. The page picture is the original.
Too many groups vying for say in CG recreation?
From Page 1 reportedly been resistant to change. 2. The Youth Advisory Board — This coalition of citizens and school officials is appointed by the commission to serve in an advisory capacity. They make suggestions and evaluations for eventual commission consideration and action. 3. The Rooters Club — This is a group of parents of children participating in city recreational programs. Some Rooter's leaders last month expressed with the Youth Center, but when pressed for specific or extensive data, politely declined further interviews. 4. Community Schools — Ponce, Merrick and Carver have after-school and weekend programs, funded jointly by the city and Dade County Schools. Because city funding is in serious jeopardy, the community school administrators are — for the first time — working with Hart. United Recreational Association, Inc. — Formed by W. L. Philbrick, United Rec. is a group of citizens involved in particular sports (or in youth and handicapped activities) who banded together to "assist" the city in recreation programming. So far, they have functioned as a powerful lobby group in planning for recreation development at the Biltmore. These groups' various feelings about the municipal recreational program and their various activities may shed some light on complaints about the department. The Youth Advisory Board's agenda for Wednesday, May 12, includes an anaylsis of the Youth Centers' programming. Some radical suggestions are expected and it is possible those could end up before the commission. "Historically, we have not demanded a quality program," one board member said. "There has been a lack of definitive standards and a lack of caring. "There is a general lack of understanding. They generally don't know where kids are or what they are doing," she said. The board, she said, feels that "Don Hart is very structured. He has rigid ideas. He creates some problems with his snide remarks about people who let children come to the Youth Center after school. What the hell is the Youth Center for?" Ms. Hunt said she places an emphasis on "fun, learning, safety and keeping the kids busy, not really structured." She feels that "the kids are happy. I think people trust the Youth Center. I think we have a fairly balanced program. We do get some criticism, but that's the risk whenever you're in public service." Asked to comment about the recreation department administrators, specifically Ms. Hunt and Hart, one United Recreational Association member said he remembered an old adage: "Anyone who remain calm in the midst of this confusion simply does not understand the situation." "It's not my responsibility to out-think people," Hart said in an earlier interview. "How I see things may be entirely different than how somebody else sees it. The proof is the taste of the pudding. This involves employes, citizens and bystanders. "We listen to what people say, digest it and attack the problem with an open mind," Hart maintained. "Hopefully, the end result will be better. Through understanding we can develop a team. Though our approach might be different, the ultiuate objective is still reached." The Rooters Club met with Ms. Hunt and Hart about a month ago. They left the meeting encouraged that athletic programming would be better organized and better provided for. They also left the meeting temporarily willing to comment further on complaints they had once voiced about the programming. "It was hard for Hart to come to us and try to revamp the program," Rooters President Rod Gonzales said. "But we got tired of waiting and waiting. We needed to ask in order to find out what was being done." Gonzales and others Rooters members refused invitations to meet with the press a few weeks later to go over specific problem areas. "Let's give this a chance to work out," one member said. "A basic lack of plans was our main complaint and now they are planning."
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