Bay Oaks needs to be a huge asset to Beach
To the editor:
I wrote a commentary piece last week concerning the perception that Bay Oaks Recreation Center was overstaffed. Since then, I have done some digging to find out how the facility was staffed when Lee County managed Bay Oaks.
As it turns out, there was a full-time supervisor, four full-time programmers and one part-time programmer.
One of the full-time staff was paid for partially by the Town and partially through a Community Development Block Grant. I was greatly surprised to find out that Lee County did not hire any personnel to run the pool. The pool was contracted out until the Town took over Bay Oaks in 2009.
I don’t know why the decision to take over running the pool was made, but it explains why there are one full-time and a number of part-time pool positions employed by the Town that weren’t employed by Lee County.
To compare staffing fairly by excluding pool personnel, the Town now has two fewer full-time positions at the Recreation Center than Lee County had, but a number of additional part time positions.
The Recreation Manager, who quit her job at Bay Oak,s went on to take the same position in another town in Florida, presumably for a better salary. The experience she gained at Bay Oaks over the rocky transition period and three years since the Town took over the Center will stand her in good stead in her new position.
Their gain, our loss.
Bay Oaks needs such dedicated professionals to fulfill its potential of being a vital community center. Bay Oaks has had great successes, such as Halloween “Fright Night,” when the gym is packed with kids in costume and their parents, and as a staging area for “Taste of the Beach.”
I mention these events to bring home the idea that Bay Oaks can be a huge asset to Fort Myers Beach if it receives the resources it needs to reach that goal.
Becky Bodnar
Fort Myers Beach