Supporters for the Habersham County Recreation Department’s Gymnastics Program filled nearly half of the commission meeting room Monday evening. Grandparents, parents, and children came out to show their support for the program that has been pivotal in many children’s lives over the last several years.
A handful of citizens that utilize the gymnastics program spoke during the public comments portion of the commission meeting.
Heather Benton of Clarkesville who has two daughters in the gymnastics program was the first of several to address the commission. All had the same message, to preserve the gymnastics program in the Habersham County Recreation Department and not to privatize the program.
She addressed the commission by first saying that she appreciated the job that the commissioners did. She understood that they have a daunting task of balancing the needs of county departments and requests from taxpayers.
“As a taxpayer and as a parent of two daughters who thrive in the county’s gymnastics program, I’m here to ask the Board of Commissioners to strongly consider how the program can be saved instead of sacrificed?” Benton asked the commission.
Support
She asked for anyone at the meeting that was there on behalf of keeping the gymnastics program in the Habersham County Recreation Department to please stand. Nearly half of the citizens attending the meeting stood.
Benton told the commission that on the surface, privatizing with a company in White County would look like a win-win solution. However, she said that for the 600-700 families that rely on the Rec Department for the service, privatization would not be a workable solution.
“We do not have enough information at this point to make a sound decision,” Benton told the commission.
She asked the commission, “Please strongly consider preserving the gymnastics program in the upcoming budget decisions.”
Michele Shirley told the commission what the gymnastics program meant for her family and it mirrored other families in the county as well. She explained to the commissioners that the program helped her daughter. Once her daughter outgrew the program, she went on to other sports such as volleyball and track and field. Her daughter was on the winning state volleyball and track and field teams for Tallulah Falls. Shirley explained that her daughter will be heading off to college this fall. The life lessons she has learned began with the gymnastics program in Habersham County.
Fiscal responsibility
Paula Hanington addressed the commission about fiscal responsibility. She told the commission that of all of the sports at the Rec Department, the only one that had paid coaches was the gymnastics program. All of the other programs have volunteer coaches.
She referred to a statement made by Shirley when the program was started in 2016, they presented a break-even budget. “Right now, the taxpayers foot 53% of the cost of the gymnastics program,” Hanington said.
She referred to a statement made by Benton that the program was important because it provided daycare during the summer. “It is not the role of our county to provide daycare,” she told the commission.
Hanington explained to the commission that hard choices were going to have to be made. Currently, the county is in debt to the tune of $37 million with just the hospital and administration building debt. She told the commissioners that the county has a dying landfill that will have to be addressed. “We’re going to have to make hard choices and the time to make those hard choices is now,” she said.
None of the commissioners responded to the fate of the gymnastics program.
