13 seek sports complex manager job
Deadline nears for submitting resumes to El Dorado-Union County panel
EL DORADO — The El Dorado-Union County Recreation Complex Commission is continuing efforts to hire a new general manager for the Champagnolle Road.
Chairman Chris Nale said 13 resumes have been submitted for the job.
The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Friday.
Resumes may be emailed to City Clerk Heather McVay at cityclerk@eldoradoar.org or dropped off at the city clerk’s office on the first floor of City Hall.
The complex, which has eight baseball/softball fields and two soccer fields, has been without a manager since the end of 2023.
The Boys and Girls Club of El Dorado opted not to renew its annual contract with the city to operate and manage the facility.
The club had managed the facility since 2017 and served as the concessionaire since 2019 under a separate contract with the complex.
Last October, the Boys and Girls Club of El Dorado tendered a letter announcing its decision not to renew either contract for 2024.
Both contracts expired on Dec. 31.
“The [Boys and Girls Club of El Dorado] board of directors felt that it was in the club’s best interest to step down from the complex and focus on other activities,” David Lee, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of El Dorado, previously told the News-Times.
A few weeks after the club’s announcement, the city’s Department of Public Works began the process of hiring a general manager and selecting a new concessionaire by accepting requests for proposals that were due in late December.
Robert Edmonds, director of public works, previously said only one proposal had been submitted for each position, and later, he said interviews were underway with candidates for the manager’s position.
Further discussions ensued in early 2024, during which El Dorado City Council Member Frank Hash and some complex commissioners pointed out that the commission is responsible for “hiring and firing” at the facility.
Hash cited city Ordinance 1894, which was adopted in January of 2022 and formally established the complex commission to oversee the management of the facility.
The commission had previously performed the duty while operating as a board of directors.
Per Ordinance 1894, the complex commission “shall have the right to employ or remove managers, janitors, or other employees of whatsoever nature, kind or character, and to fix, regulate, and pay their salaries, with the approval of the E(l) Dorado City Council.”
The El Dorado-Union County Recreation Complex Board convened for a special meeting on March 13 to discuss with Edmonds the general manager’s position and hash out the hiring process and duties and responsibilities of the job.
The group entered into an executive session to discuss candidates who had applied for the job.
Following the executive session, Nale announced that commissioners had agreed to repost advertisements for the job and set a new deadline to accept resumes.
Duties of the general manager include field maintenance and scheduling practices, tournaments and other events.
When the former El Dorado-Union County Recreation Complex Board and the city approved the contract for the Boys and Girls Club of El Dorado in 2017, board members said then that the complex manager will be responsible for marketing and promoting the facility and booking as many tournaments and other sporting activities “for as many weekends as possible throughout the year” to help boost revenue and usage of the complex.
The salary range for the general manager is $50,000 to $60,000 per year, depending on experience, and benefits, including health insurance, paid time off, a retirement plan for which the city kicks in a matching contribution of up to 5% for civilian city employees, etc.
The salary will be paid out of the complex’s operational budget and the benefit package will flow from the city.
On April 5, complex commissioners emphasized that the general manager is a fulltime job.
Nale said he has received several inquiries from people who mistakenly think the job entails work that can be done part time.
“I’ve gotten a lot of calls from people who think this is something they can do on the side, that they can come out there and do after they get off work,” Nale said.
On March 14, the El Dorado City Council approved a contract and passed a resolution engaging the services of former Council Member Mike Rice as the new concessionaire at the complex.
Edmonds and Mayor Paul Choate had previously said a new concessionaire had been hired.
Rice, owner of the popular Fayrays restaurant in downtown El Dorado, submitted the lone RFP in December.
He had already set up shop and begun food service as the busy season kicked off at the complex in early March.
Per the terms of the concessionaire’s contract, the complex will receive 10% of revenue from the concession stand and the concessionaire will retain 90%.