Roger Short wants to make sure the people of Columbus and Lowndes County understand the Columbus Recreation Authority will continue to offer programs.
Short wants to make that perfectly clear because there might be some uncertainty about the status of the city’s recreation authority now that he is on the job as interim recreation manager for Lowndes County.
“I want the citizens to know that the programs at the community centers will continue,” Short said. “I want to make sure it is a smooth transition and that everything is fair for the county and everything is fair for the city as well.”
Short has served as interim recreation manager since May 1 after the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in April to name him to that position. He said he isn’t sure if he will continue to be “interim” recreation manager until Sept. 30, when Lowndes County is set to break from an inter-local agreement with the city of Columbus that governs the Columbus-Lowndes Recreation Authority. Supervisors issued the county’s intention to withdraw from the inter-local agreement governing CLRA last fall.
Short called the current time frame a “transition period” in which he will continue to work out of building he worked at when he served as executive director of CLRA. His current office is across the hall from current CLRA executive director Greg Lewis.
Short said working in the CLRA office, which is adjacent to Propst Park in Columbus, will help him and Lewis work together. He said both men will shoulder a majority of responsibilities during the transition period.
“It keeps us on the same page,” Short said. “I told Greg we need to be allies. We don’t need to be adversaries. He is in full agreement with that.”
As of May 1, Short took over maintenance of the Columbus Downtown Soccer Complex. He said he will re-negotiate contracts for services and work done at county recreation buildings and facilities. He said he also will formulate a budget and determine what personnel the county recreation department is going to need and where its office eventually will be located.
Short said the Columbus Recreation Department will continue to play its games at the Downtown Soccer Complex, a facility Short played an integral role in bringing to the city. Short said he would like to give the complex “a rest” and to use that time to help the grass grow in the fields.
Short isn’t sure what other plans will be realized during his work with the county, but he offered some ideas about what could happen.
“The county is not going into the construction of a sports complex,” Short said. “I am not going to say they will not entertain that down the road, which I really hope they will entertain it down the road because there is going to be a need. But right now there is a place for the kids in the city and in the county to play baseball, softball, and soccer.”
Short said it took 15 years for the area to get the soccer complex, so at 67 years of age he doesn’t want to go through a process that long again. He said he wants things to move quicker on the next initiatives and could see working as recreation manager for the county for three years. In that time, he said a new sports complex, if the county opts to build one, won’t come “immediately.”
“I hope it comes within my three years,” Short said. “I said this years ago when they type of industry we have in Lowndes County started coming, I said then that we need something. We got the soccer complex, but the people that are dealing with these companies that are coming to Lowndes County aren’t going to be satisfied with what we have had to offer. I have said that all along. They are going to expect more, and I still believe that.
“We have become somewhat complacent with what we have, and we go along with what we have. I don’t think that is the right approach.”
Short said he has set goals — attainable goals — he feels can be realized in the next few years. He said he will work on building a pavilion in Steens, installing a playground or a piece of playground equipment at the New Hope Community Center, and building a community center in Concord.
Short, who started working at CLRA in 1991, served as executive director for CLRA for 12 years. He announced his retirement in August 2014. Short then returned to work for CLRA as a consultant in 2015.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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