Boyertown agency will run Ricketts
POTTSTOWN >> With a 4-2 vote on Oct. 15, Pottstown Borough Council once again chose a Berks County-based agency to run the Ricketts Community Center for two years.
Still weathering the fallout from being dumped in August by the Reading-based Olivet Boys & Girls Club, which was repeatedly criticized by the community for being out of touch with Pottstown’s needs, council selected Boyertown Area MultiService from among four other Pottstown-based applicants.
Council members Ryan Procsal, Don Lebedynsky, Vice President Carol Kulp and Council President Dan Weand voted to begin negotiations for a twoyear contract with Boyertown Area Multi-Service, best known
for its Spring Street senior center.
The four were observed conferring Tuesday before the council meeting got underway.
The other potential operators were the STRIVE Initiative, YWCA Tri-County Area, Centro Cultural Latinos Unidos and the borough’s own Parks and Recreation Department.
Councilman Joe Kirkland, who represents the Seventh Ward where the center is located, and Councilwoman Trenita Lindsay voted against choosing Boyertown Area Multi-Service.
Councilwoman Rita Paez also opposed the choice but because she is affiliated with Centro Cultural Latinos Unidos, she recused herself from voting to avoid a conflict of interest on the advice of Borough Solicitor Charles D. Garner Jr.
At last week’s meeting, Garner also disclosed that an attorney in his law firm sits on the board of directors of Boyertown Area Multi-Service. As Garner has no vote, that connection does not present a direct conflict of interest as defined by the state ethics law, but Garner said he wanted to be transparent about the connection.
Centro Cultural Latinos Unidos, a Latino-oriented non-profit in Pottstown better known as CCLU, was a late-comer to the pool bidding to run the center and never a serious contender.
In fact, not only was the group unable to make a presentation last Wednesday, when the other four made their proposals, the CCLU presentation Tuesday made no specified proposal and does not yet even have the full support of its board of directors.
As a result, board chair Edie Sheehan-Hammond simply offered council an overview of CCLU and its programs before Tuesday’s vote. Council had no questions for her.
But Kirkland had a few statements, speaking out strongly against the motion made by Procsal and seconded by Lebedynsky to award the job to the Boyertown agency.
“I’m leaning toward having the borough take over running the center again. It’s clear that’s what the people want,” Kirkland said in reference to the many speakers who have addressed council in recent months, none of whom have asked for another agency from outside Pottstown to run the center.
“The more we keep giving this out to outside parties, the harder it will be to bring it back in, we’re just washing our hands of it,” Kirkland said.
His concern grew when it became clear that most of council did not even know how long the contract is to be, as outlined by the borough’s own request for proposals.
Hannah Davis from STRIVE had to call out the answer from the audience.
“We’re going to award this contract and we don’t even know how long it is?” Kirkland fumed. “We’re always looking for the easy way out. Let’s do what’s right for a change,” he said.
“Everyone said the center was best when the borough ran it. The borough (presentation) had everything the others did,” he said. “We can take care of this ourselves.”
“I agree 100 percent,” said Paez. “We have to do what’s best for the children.”
“We should keep this inhouse,” said Lindsay. “I have faith in our borough. I know we can do this.”
The argument against having the borough take over operations is primarily financial.
Parks and Recreation Director Michael Lenhart told council last week it would take an additional $37,000 to have the borough run the center. That’s above and beyond the $40,000 the borough contributes annually toward the center operations.
Weand said the budget draft for 2020 already calls for a 4.5 percent tax hike and adding the cost of running the center could increase that.
“My constituents tell me they’re not willing to take on any more expense,” Weand said.
Procsal noted that Boyertown Area Multi-Service has strong financial backing and a record of professionalism. He said there is nothing that prevents the agency from working with parks and recreation in running the center.
Procsal said that before the meeting he spoke to Johnny Corson, president of the Pottstown Chapter of the NAACP who has repeatedly asked that the borough take back operations of the Ricketts Center, “and he understands our reasons.”
Mayor Stephanie Henrick, who does not have a vote, said financially, the Boyertown choice makes sense, but she is concerned that the center and agency being in two different counties could make getting grants more complicated.
“The smart move is to bring it in-house and ask STRIVE to help guide the borough through the first year or two,” she said.
It remains to be seen how much collaboration among those who expressed interest in helping to run the center will occur come 2020.