City of Markham taking Markham Park District to court amid concerns about finances
A south suburban parks director is served papers as the city of Markham demands that the Markham Park District open its books.
In south suburban Markham, the city and the park district are two separate entities. This week, the city filed a motion in court, insisting the park district answer questions about its finances or lack thereof.
The city argues funds have been mismanaged under the current park district board and director. Markham's city administrator, Derrick Champion, said the park district has failed to provide audits and financial reports for years.
"Vendors that they contracted out, they haven't been getting paid, they've been bouncing checks, and stuff like that. So the vendors have reached out to the city of Markham to see if we can intervene," He said.
The Markham Park District has its own budget and board. Champion said, in 2012, the park district was ordered to enter into an intergovernmental agreement, which meant the city would take over day-to-day operations, "but that transfer of power never took place."
On Friday, police served an order to appear in court to the park's director, a move the city hopes will get some action.
"When another taxing body is kind of going rogue in some places, we have to get them in order and work and try and protect the residents from that," Markham Mayor Roger Agpawa said.
Agpawa said the court filing is not about politics, but dilapidated conditions much of equipment at the parks have looked like for years.
The basketball court Country Aire Park in Markham is just one example of why the city says things are not maintained. It is missing any hoops or rims to shoot a basketball in.
"We're talking about what could be tones of millions of dollars, and it has been millions of dollars. So this is not a small argument. This is about tax dollars," Agpawa said.
The park district did not respond to requests for comment. They will have to answer questions in court about its spending later this month.