JACKSON — Accusations leveled against the Jackson Recreation Department regarding a potential mishandling of funds has prompted officials to enlist the help of the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee (CBAC) to conduct an audit.
The decision to audit the recreation department came at the request of the Township Council and Mayor Michael Reina after Bonnie Barrington, the former coordinator of the girls softball program, went public with accusations that the sponsorship account was being used inappropriately.
“I am going to take these accusations very seriously,” Reina said. “It was my intention when I was told about any misappropriation that we start an audit and that we will go through that with the CBAC.”
Barrington helped to write the 2011 municipal ordinance that allowed for certain Jackson recreation programs to actively pursue commercial sponsorships.
Due to what she said were “frustrations with the department,” Barrington left her position onApril 19. She had been the girls softball coordinator since 2010.
“I am upset that I had to walk away from the girls in this town,” she said.
The move to seek sponsorships was an attempt to ensure that Jackson’s recreation programs were self-sufficient by covering costs that the $50 to $65 registration fees did not.
There are about 300 girls participating in the softball program.
According to Barrington, who was tasked with pursuing the sponsorships, about nine local entities purchased banners to be hung at the Bartley Road softball fields or at the Justice Complex fields for one year. Her count also included 12 local entities that purchased uniform sponsorships to be the sole sponsor for a team.
Sponsor fees ranged from $250 to $400, she said.
Those estimates landed close to the official count by Business Administrator Jose Torres, who said there were about 10 local vendors that opted to participate in the sponsorship program.
However, the banners were not seen at the softball fields on opening day, April 21. Barrington pointed to a recreation department in disarray as the reason behind the missing banners.
“We are taking money from businesses that do not have their signs up yet. We have a sponsor that does not even have his name on the back of the uniform — all because of the disorganization of this department,” Barrington said.
Torres said Barrington had passed the project on to a recreation department clerk when representatives of Sign-A-Rama, of Toms River, requested the sponsors’ logos in order to prepare the signs in time.
“There was back and forth with [the clerk and Sign-A-Rama] … as for the logo and the representation that was going to be put on the banner, so [the sign company] opted to contact the sponsors directly to ensure that the sign represents accurately what they wanted on the banner,” Torres said.
Reina also cited Barrington’s sudden resignation as a reason why the banners were missing on opening day of the softball season.
Officials said some, if not all, of the banners will be making their way to the softball fields in the upcoming weeks.
Barrington also said the “frustration [she] faced in the management of the sponsorship account” was a key reason for her departure. She specifically took issue with how sponsor fees were used.
According to Barrington, the practice of using sponsorship money to purchase Tshirts, which she believes a player’s registration fee should cover, went against her interpretation of the ordinance.
Reina, however, said the ordinance was very clear that part of the sponsorship money would pay for T-shirts bearing the sponsor’s name.
The other issue Barrington leveled at the recreation department was the rejection of an $800 sponsorship offer by the Jackson Renegades girls softball organization.
Barrington, who is the volunteer secretary for the Renegades’ Board of Trustees, said she does not believe there is a conflict of interest between the two softball programs.
“I don’t understand how a recreation department that is looking to increase fees could turn down an $800 donation,” Barrington said.
In a memo obtained by the Tri-Town News, Torres outlined the findings of a conflict of interest investigation which determined that Barrington’s involvement with the Renegades could be “perceived that there is a desire to help that organization further its policies to the detriment of other youth softball programs in the community.”
Torres also pointed to the fact that as the girls softball coordinator, Barrington handled the scheduling and availability of Jackson’s fields for all age groups, and he said the Renegades’ $800 sponsorship offer was returned to avoid any potential issues.
Torres also said that having the name of the Renegades’ “competing softball program” displayed on T-shirts that were provided by the Jackson recreation department would be like “the Red Sox putting their name on the Yankees’ jersey.”
Renegades treasurer Sam Soprano called that comparison “ridiculous” when he spoke with the Tri-Town News, noting that the two softball leagues run at different times of the year.
Torres and Reina said the decision was not made to be antagonistic to the Jackson Renegades.
“The last thing anybody can accuse the administration of is being non-recreationfriendly,” Reina said. “The Renegades are a fine organization … I want to go on record and say that the administration has no ill feelings with that organization at all.”