Reply Comments from a Rec Commissioner

Dear Council Members-

I simply cannot believe what could have been passing through Ms.
Shriner's head when she asked such a question at the Council Meeting:
"How is staff helping Marina?"

Of course, the question is almost laughable because a part of me wants
to ask "what staff?" when we are here in the midst of hiring freezes,
unfilled positions, cancelled job searches, and short-staffed
departments.

Nonetheless, as a Recreation Commissioner, I work with and see the
results of a group of staff that are nothing short of miracle
workers. Our staff manage to do so much, and with so little in terms
of resources. In this time of budget cuts, they are squeezing those
resources tighter than ever, but they are the people on the front
lines making sure that our citizens have the opportunities that they
deserve. In these hard times, recreation could not be more important
for keeping families together, focused on the positive, physically and
emotionally fulfilled. And, in particular, for keeping our kids
engaged, off the streets, and motivated to become strong, contributing
adult members of society.

I am troubled to see our City entrenched in partisanship. We are
divided by the little box checked on our voter registration cards, and
it threatens to tear our City in half. I am tired of seeing the
finger pointing. I am tired of the bully pulpit (and I do mean this
in the modern pejorative). Frankly, I am a democrat, and I am
embarrassed. We are a City in crisis, and what is holding it together
and making sure that it still functions is staff. A staff that is
comprised of democrats and republicans, black, white, yellow, brown,
and downright 'plaid'. The staff is the very diversity that they
represent, and they continue represent well with every fiber of their
being that they can muster. They serve the citizens of Marina
regardless of their political, or any other, ideologies.

To be sure, we also have a strong core of volunteers to back them up.
Marina is somewhat anomalous, and miraculous, in this way. We have a
group of citizens who donate their time, their skills, their services,
products, and cash to help the staff pull off the miracles. Like the
staff, these citizens are democrats and republicans, black, white,
yellow, and brown. These are the folks who are not just finger
pointing. They aren't worried about who is in power and the agenda of
the day. They are worried about making a real difference by getting
out there and actually contributing to the solution. They are putting
in the physical labor, the manpower, the elbow grease...you name it.
They are putting their money, and every other measurable contribution,
where their mouth is. And, they are making the real difference. They
are the ones touching the life of a single child - because they are
actually physically helping that child. They are helping that child
complete an art project at the Wind Festival. They are helping that
child learn to hit a baseball for the first time. They are helping
that child with homework in the library. They are not complaining
about what is wrong. Instead, they are just fixing it.

Staff perform these same miracles every day. If you sat down with a
staff member, and asked them "what did you do today?", you would be
simply blown away by all of the things they are responsible for, all
the tasks small and large that they manage to execute, and all of the
lives that they touch, everyday. I know I am blown away each and
every time I chat with a different staffer.

Next time Ms. Shriner is worried about what staff is doing for the
City, I recommend she follow that up with "and how can I help?" Walk
a mile in those shoes, and lets see how you feel.

In the meantime, actions such as these continue to harm our City. Ms
Shriner is permanently harming our community by making such remarks -
remarks that only serve to demonstrate how little she knows about the
community she was appointed to serve. She is abusing her appointed
office by stepping to the podium and making grandiose and accusatory
statements with the pretext that she has special knowledge because she
is a Commissioner - to the naive audience member, she represents a
person in power who has knowledge of the behind-the-scenes workings of
the City. When she stands at that podium and makes accusations,
people place in her their trust, and assume she knows something they
do not. In reality, she is acting recklessly and in an uninformed
matter. Through these actions, she is violating the trust placed in
her, and abusing her position of power.

I respectfully request that you officially sanction Ms. Shriner.
Further, I request a public apology from Ms. Shriner for her
irresponsible actions and words.

If her actions continue, I will have no choice but to request that she
be removed from office. I can no longer stand by and witness the
destruction.

I look forward to your reply detailing how my concerns will be met.

Lara Ferry-Graham
Chair, Recreation and Cultural Services Commission