The executive director of the beleaguered Collinsville Area Recreation District resigned Thursday, effective immediately.
Terry Wilson
In a resignation letter to David Tanzyus, president CARD’s Board of Commissioners, Terry Wilson, 55, said when he was hired he believed he could help the district to become “functionally and financially healthy” after nearly two decades of mismanagement. But, with three referendums going into effect May 1, meaning a total reduction of $224,000 in three operating budgets, Wilson no longer felt his ambitious goal was possible.
“I firmly believe that the task of running this district would have been very difficult with the existing funding – but doable, and I was up to the challenge,” Wilson wrote. “With the added burden of losing funding due to the passage of the referendums, running the district in the manner in which I believe the citizens deserve is impossible and sets the district up for failure.”
At a special CARD Board meeting Monday, Wilson said that he “was not allowed to have an opinion” while a group spearheaded by current Board member Mark Achenbach was working to get the referendums on the ballot and passed.
Wilson also cited his ongoing frustration with members of the Board of Commissioners, saying he saw a “fundamental disconnect in management style and substance between myself and the board.”
Current board members Achenbach, Tanzyus, Jeanne Lomax and Patrick Collins all publicly supported the referendum.
When it was mistakenly announced earlier Thursday that Pleasant Ridge Park was closed indefinitely due to budget constraints, some comments left on CARD’s Facebook page blamed the referendum and the current Board for attempting to destroy the district from within. ” This is the first step by the current board to dismantle CARD,” one commenter said.
Wilson was hired in July 2012 to replace Mark Badasch, who was the Executive Director from 1994 until he resigned in Nov. 2011. Rick Robbins, served as interim director before Wilson was hired. Wilson, a Collinsville resident, came to CARD after serving 21 years as the Executive Director of the Fairview Heights Park District.
Tanzyus, who voted to hire Wilson, said the resignation came as a surprise.
“It is unfortunate that Terry has departed in this manner. He had many successes in his tenure,” Tanzyus said in a statement. “The Board has three new commissioners and is itself finding its way. After many years of mismanagement, we are all left to clean the mess up. It is a lonely and daunting task and I sympathize with Terry’s frustration. I wish him the best and have no hard feelings.”
Tanzyus said that he and the CARD board will continue to work for the District and “will respect the voters limitations placed upon us.”
“We have many talented people in this organization who are dedicated to improve our situation,” he said. “We are all humbled and grateful for the public’s support and patience.”
Tanzyus will meet with CARD administrative staff on Friday to discuss next steps. The Board’s finance committee is scheduled to also meet on Friday to talk about the budget for fiscal year 2014-15, which starts May 1.
The CARD Board of Commissioners is working to schedule a special executive session on Monday, March 10 to discuss selecting an interim executive director.
