Kenny Hardin, Salisbury, N.C.
♦ This is my personal view and assessment of the Miller Rec situation, and if anyone has anything that can disprove or support, please feel free to share. The way the City handled this entire matter, was absolutely horrible. Again, they failed to involve the people that would be impacted by their decisions in the wider discussion and implementation. When they understand this, they will get more support for things they want and need to do.
I suspect the Miller Rec Center is hemorrhaging money and is not enough of a revenue producing entity or let alone a viable enough entity to warrant in their eyes operating it themselves. So, they bring in the Salvation Army (SA) to operate it and bring in programs that do produce revenue where they can keep the facility operational. The SA came in with the typical patriarchal attitude of disrespect for the Community and residents that live there and have used the Center for generations.
I was told that the Commander made a comment in a meeting with a few Black leaders before they took over that “the residents on the West End are “only sitting back waiting on a Government handout.” If this is true, then he came in with the wrong mindset and was never willing to partner with the Community as was repeated over and over. Add to this the fact that at the same time, personnel decisions were made to terminate employment of several people who were emotionally invested in the Center and had established a trusting bond with the residents who frequented it. Even if the terminations were not associated with the change, it came at a poor time in the process where communication was already lacking. So, this added to the mistrust and created a bigger feeling of a conspiracy to rid the community of the opportunity to use this Center as they have for decades.
The SA didn’t help their cause by reducing field trips while maintaining the weekly $70.00 camp costs, probably in a move to make the Center fiscally viable. You can’t cost cut your way to progress. There were reports of negative exchanges by SA staff with some of the Black children and even turning away Church Groups who wanted to use the Center for the at-risk kids they serve as they had done for years. It was also reported that the Senior Group who had used the Center for decades was being asked to relocate to the City Park, which caused anxiety for those Seniors.
I attended several meetings where the residents shared their passionate pleas and anger tinged feelings on all that was unfolding. I felt like the responses given by the City representatives lacked continuity and they seemed uncomfortable with their reasoning and explanations they provided. It was like something was being held back from being said. So, residents, who were already skeptical and non-trusting, became even more so and it manifested into anger directed at the City Officials.
Now that the SA has backed out, what’s next for the Center? I received two passionate pleas form Miller Center workers yesterday to encourage residents to bring viable revenue producing programs to the Center. I tend to focus on nonverbal cues, facial expressions, etc, and there was look of concern, sadness and muted panic. It was even shared by one employee that if they can’t get those programs, the hours would be cut. My view is that if we can’t find and bring revenue producing programs to the Center, the Center will not exist at all in the long term, thus my Facebook post yesterday stating that the many that rallied hard for this independence need to step up and ensure its vitality and longevity. It’s great that the Center is open and available for the good of the Community, but how do we make it financially sound?
I’m a product of Miller Rec. I took everything from Karate classes to Arts & Crafts there as a child and attended a meeting there last night. I have great memories of the Center from my youth and it’s an important part of my development. But, I understand fiscal soundness too. We have to fight for its survival as hard as we fought to claim it as ours. If anyone has another view or any commentary, I would love to dialogue more about this.
