Galveston council interviews 13 Park Board candidates amid disputes over transparency, beach safety and hotel-tax spending

The Galveston City Council interviewed 13 candidates for Park Board trustee seats during a morning session and said it will appoint trustees at its June 26 meeting; council staff asked members to submit ranked candidate lists by the Thursday before the appointment meeting. The interviews focused less on individual biographies than on ongoing disputes over Park Board transparency, the use of hotel-occupancy tax revenue and beach safety, including lifeguard staffing and litter enforcement.

The interviews mattered because the Park Board manages beach maintenance, lifeguard operations, tourism marketing and distribution of hotel-occupancy tax dollars — all central to Galveston’s economy and to residents’ quality of life. Several candidates and council members urged clearer financial controls and closer cooperation between the Park Board and city government before the board approves budgets or lobbying efforts.

Gerald Wilson, a current Park Board vice chairman and one of the applicants, told council he is seeking reappointment and emphasized continuity while acknowledging problems between the board and council. “I feel there’s work that needs to be done that’s not finished,” Wilson said, adding that “transparency, sharing of information” is necessary to prevent future conflicts that he called “unfortunate.” He listed priority items for the board as selecting an interim or permanent CEO,…