Rec director leaves abruptly, Port cancels activities

By KRISTYN HALBIG ZIEHM

Ozaukee Press staff

A number of activities sponsored by the Port Washington Parks and Recreation Department were abruptly canceled late last week, just days after the sudden resignation of Recreation Director Kiley Scherer.

Last weekend’s planned Great Port Washington Campout was canceled Thursday, as were the Friday Night Flicks set for Aug. 12, the Aug. 9 dollar swim day and the teen pool party on Aug. 18.

The  Niederkorn Library also canceled its Golden Ticket Party for the children’s summer reading challenge, which was to have been at the pool, and the city has announced that the pool will close 10 days earlier than planned, on Friday, Aug. 19.

The pool hours will be limited to 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays until that date.

City Administrator Tony Brown said the pool activities were canceled not because of Scherer’s resignation but due to a lack of staffing. It’s not an uncommon occurrence this year, he added, noting a number of area pools didn’t open this year due to staffing issues.

“I think the staff did a great job of keeping the pool open for most of the summer,” Brown said. “They made every effort to get us through the summer.”

But, he said, while in the past most of the pool staff were college students, this year they are primarily high school students, and with the advent of fall sports and students heading back to school there were a number of pool shifts that could not be filled adequately.

Swim lessons and a number of private events were cut from the pool schedule earlier this summer for the same reason, Brown noted.

The city will look at ways to resolve the issue of staffing before next year’s pool season, he said.

“I don’t think the hourly wage is where it should be,” he said, adding that the city will also look at more flexible scheduling in an attempt to retain staff.

Scherer, who has been the city’s recreation director since 2018, resigned Wednesday, a day after the Common Council held a closed session to deal with “employment, promotion, compensation, or employee evaluation of any public employee.”

Several aldermen confirmed that employee was Scherer but would not comment on the closed session.

Ald. Jonathan Pleitner, vice chairman of the Parks and Recreation Board, said, “Kiley was a great employee. It’s very unfortunate this has happened. There’s a lot of good programming she instituted.”

Scherer worked hard to make the department a success and left it in good shape, he added.

Ald. Mike Gasper, who is a member of the Parks and Recreation Board, added, “We’re all going to miss Kiley. Kiley did a lot of good. This is not what we wanted to see.”

Scherer is “very bright, very energetic” and brought that to her job, Ald. John Sigwart said, adding that she brought innovative programming to the department.

Scherer could not be reached for comment.

Brown would not comment either, but said the city began advertising for a successor to Scherer on Friday. By Tuesday, he said, the city had more than a dozen applications from across the country.

He added that he anticipates that a new recreation director could be on staff within the next six weeks.

In the meantime, Brown said, Jon Crain, the city’s director of parks and forestry, will handle park-related issues while Emily Blakeslee, assistant city administrator and human resources director, will handle recreation duties.

Brown said the city is trying to reschedule some of the events that have been canceled, such as the campout.

“The issue we’re running into is, whether it’s Upper Lake Park or Kolbach Park, a lot of the weekends are already scheduled,” he said. “We’re trying to work through it.”

The campout was canceled, Brown noted, because there was an issue with staffing and, with Scherer’s resignation, a lack of time to coordinate and complete the planning process.

“It was just too much with short notice,” Pleitner said. “It caught us a little flat footed.”

If the city is able to reschedule the campout, Brown said, those who had signed up for the original event would be given first chance at registration. The event would also be offered at no cost to participants.

“We acknowledge it was inconvenient for people,” Brown said.