Orion Township finally has a director of the parks and recreation department.
Well, sort of.
At their meeting on April 6, the board of trustees voted 7-0 to combine the positions of Director of Senior Services and Director of Parks and Recreation into one position, Director of Community Programs.
Lisa Sokol, the current director of senior services, was offered the job, which will pay $63,057 with benefits.
‘I’m looking forward to working with the department on scheduling,? Sokol said.
According to the board, scheduling events and programming should be the proper focus of the head of parks and recreation, not tackling projects like safety paths and the amphitheater, which former director Rock Blanchard undertook.
The board decided those projects are better dealt with through the supervisor’s office.
Sokol said she has relevant recreation programming experience working with Lake Orion schools for decades.
‘Lisa will be a strong leader,? said Township Supervisor Matt Gibb. ‘If I didn’t trust her, we wouldn’t have done this.?
The township hasn’t had a director of parks and recreation for a year, ever since Blanchard went on a leave of absence amid controversy for alleged misdoings.
Blanchard and the township amicably parted ways in January, officially leaving the spot vacant. For the past year, Jennifer Vezina, the program supervisor for parks and recreation, was the acting department head.
Instead of filling the position, they combined the two in an effort to save money in uncertain budgetary times.
‘We’ll be saving a substantial amount of money,? Gibb said.
See The Review next week for a more in-depth story.