Council increases police, YMCA funding
RED OAK — Red Oak’s city council loosened its financial belt at a special meeting last week, agreeing to hire an additional police officer and increase funding to the Montgomery County Family YMCA.
While both passed by unanimous 4-0 votes, the YMCA funding request featured some contentious discussions between council members and Mayor Bill Billings.
“I’m not against this program. I’m for it. I want to make it clear to the community what they are getting for their money,” Billings said. “That’s what the community didn’t like about last year. They felt it was a blank check and there wasn’t any calculation or input to where that money is going.”
After receiving $56,000 from the city last year, the YMCA requested $70,000 this year. One justification for the funding increase was the YMCA’s agreement to manage the public pool, which saved the City more than $14,000.
Under the proposed budget, the YMCA would have received $10,000, with the Council agreeing to increase the amount to $25,000.
“There is more value there to the city than the $10,000. Years ago, the city of Red Oak spent a considerable amount in a parks and recreation project, and I guarantee it was considerably more money than $25,000 and it was more than $50,000,” Council Member Larry Barnett said. “The city of Red Oak has gotten some relief from the YMCA and the services they perform.”
Billings saw the funding increase as an ominous sign.
“To me as a businessman, what that tells me, is we are going down hill fast and that there is an inevitability at that rate financially … this is going to be a real bad situation,” Billings said. “The harsh reality of the world is as much as we all would like to see building, you have to make some reductions.”
YMCA Executive Director Nick Zimmer disagreed with Billings’ assessment, adding they have reduced their staff from 7-4 full-time employees.
“I don’t think the Y is going down bad. It’s not going down bad,” Zimmer said. “It’s probably stronger today in terms of support from the community.”
Council member Jeanice Lester also advocated for more funding.
“The fundamental point is if you want a harsh reality, and the Y isn’t this type of program, they could say $10,000 isn’t enough, do it yourself,” she said.
Zimmer emphasized the role the Y plays in the community, from hosting blood drives to giving the dive and rescue team free use of the pool to assisting in growing the town.
“There are people in this audience who moved here because of the YMCA. We have plants here because of the YMCA here,” he said. “You can put a dollar amount on that, maybe you can’t, but those people are buying houses, paying taxes, going to school. We are glad to have that partnership and that’s what it’s all about.”
Barnett and Lester also stressed the importance of listing the funding as a line item inside the parks and tree board’s budget, instead of under contributions.
“I hear people out on the street say it’s a donation to the Y. It is not a donation. It is for services performed,” Barnett said. “They are managing the pool and they are managing the recreation, sports complex in terms of scheduling and all that. So I would take issue with anyone that says the city council gave the YMCA a $25,000 donation. That is not the case. It is for services performed.”
The Council also agreed to hire an 11th full-time police officer. The preliminary budget didn’t include the funds as requested by Police Chief Drue Powers.
“One of the reasons I would suggest adding that officer has to do with the investigation work,” Barnett said. “Red Oak has a little bit of an image of a drug haven. I know they have it Shenandoah, they have it Atlantic, they have it in Clarinda and quite frankly, I don’t think we are any worse than anybody else. That’s not the bar we want to arrive at. We need to be better than that.”
Barnett said adding an extra officer who could devote time to investigations would help current and future employers.
“We’ve had some issues with some of our employers in finding people that will (drug) test negative,” Barnett said. “Those involved with industrial development will tell you the image of a community is very important. If we properly utilize an additional officer we gain more than we spend.”
Powers told the Council the extra officer would allow his department to do more police work than just the basics.
“We are just doing basic police work. Nothing beyond that, period,” he said. “When we get a hot lead, we follow up on that, but that’s about all we can do at this point. We just don’t have the ability to do anything beyond that.”
Barnett followed up by commenting something as simple as adding a police officer can have a far-reaching impact on the community.
“I do think we need to look at doing some things in this community that will clean up our image, if you will, that will get us moving forward in a positive direction and hopefully get us some jobs in town,” he said. “I know some think that’s a far reach … when you go from a police officer to jobs, but it does make a difference. I truly do believe that.”