Park board member resigns, alleges $400,000 arrears and opaque contracting

Mary Therese Robert told the St John Town Council on April 8 that she was resigning from the park board after a prolonged effort to obtain budget and contract information. "For 2 years, I requested the budget," Robert said, adding that she learned about a collegiate baseball team only on social media and that the park was "$400,000 in arrears." She closed her remarks by saying, "I tender my resignation."

Robert said she had asked staff, including Beth Hernandez, for documentation and that she had lost a long-serving park employee after a change in hours and what Robert described as a lack of job descriptions and clarity about purchases. "I didn't know about a collegiate baseball team until I read it on Facebook," she said, describing years of missed information and requests that payments be treated only as purchases to be paid after services had been performed.

Council took no immediate substantive action in response during public comment. The resignation was entered into the record during the public-comment period; council then proceeded to routine business including deferring approval of March minutes. The council did not, during the meeting, place any park-related corrective measures on the agenda nor take a formal vote tied to the allegations.

The public comment highlights an outstanding fiscal question for the town: the size and origin of the $400,000 shortfall Robert cited and what internal controls govern park contracting and staffing. The council's consent-agenda and financial items later in the meeting covered unrelated purchase requests and disbursements.