It’s ironic that Mayor Edward Sundquist started this budget process saying there wouldn’t be much recreation or many events in the coming year only to end the budget process fighting to keep that very position in the budget.

Sundquist noted in his budget presentation that most city-sponsored events will again be canceled, both as a cost-savings measure and from a safety perspective.

“Our recreation coordinator will focus less on specific yearly events and more to fostering community involvement, lifestyle and year-round recreation,” Sundquist said in his budget proposal.

Frankly, the council should have furloughed the position last April when it became apparent that there would be no city events in 2020. The position was turned into a public relations/grant writing position. Grants are tough sledding right now given the dearth of federal and state money available. It’s funny, frankly, that a news release announcing Sundquist’s veto of the council’s furlough of the recreation coordinator was written by one person and sent by another, as if hitting the send button is so strenuous it requires a spotter like an Olympic powerlifter hoisting hundreds of pounds of weight. We note the Jamestown Public Schools District has only a half-time public relations person, and it’s hard to believe Jamestown needs two people handling press duties.

That makes us think Councilwoman Tamu Graham-Reinhardt, D-Ward 5, is on the right track with her request for the position.

“These events have been going on for years and years so some things should be boxed and ready to go, I would suspect” Graham-Reinhardt said during Monday’s council meeting. “I would also like to see maybe some streamlining of how some of the work could be handled if and when we do reinstate this position with regard to how we take registrations and reservations. I think what the mayor is trying to do is get the city more streamlined with doing things online, and I think that is also something we need to look at with our other departments. Can people register online? Can they pay online? These are the things we need to talk about?”

She is absolutely correct.

As it stands now, Jamestown’s recreation coordinator is a position that may not make much sense. It doen’t run baseball and softball leagues, it schedules the use of parks for those leagues. It schedules use of park pavilions and plans three events a year. For all of the consternation over the possible end of the summer playground program, the program has seen dwindling participation over the years. The food program isn’t handled through the city, and if the Jamestown Public Schools Summer LEAP program happens this year that could be where summer free lunches are distributed. Technology could likely replace some of what the position does. New partnerships could replace other aspects of the job.

This position has needed to be restructured for a while, and this is the perfect time. Working with the union, which parts of the job can be stripped away? Which parts can be handled with software and technology? Which parts realistically can be outsourced? This is the discussion the city needs to have — and it doesn’t need to pay someone to do busy work while the conversation is had.