Ron Haun
Brookfield Trustee Ron Haun criticized NEWS On the Green at the May 3 trustees’ meeting for its
handling of recent discussions about expenses at the Brookfield Township Community Park.
NEWS On the Green reported on discussions about the park in the March and April print editions, which
were based on meetings held Jan. 4 and March 8.
In an attempt to tell “the rest of the story,” referring to a feature of Paul Harvey’s radio newscasts, Haun
said that NEWS On the Green’s reporting has been “kind of deceptive.”
He specifically addressed two arguments that Trustee Dan Suttles has made concerning the park: that the
budget has gone up since a levy for the park was voted down, and that electricity costs have gone up since
surveillance cameras were installed, and will go up more once lights are attached to the cameras.
Yes, the budget has gone, up, Haun said, but the township has not spent all that was budgeted, except for
in 2018.
“For the time that I’ve been a trustee, the park has always been ignored as far as maintenance on
structures,” he said. “The year that we did, 2018, a lot of maintenance was done down at the park, to take
care of a lot of issues that hadn’t been taken care of before.”
Haun had Fiscal Officer Dena McMullin explain that 2018 was an unusual year because the trustees
chose to address maintenance items that had been pointed out by their insurance carrier – the mulch bed
in the playground was substandard and a retaining wall by field three was failing – and the township
received grant funds, which the trustees chose to improve electrical service in the park. While the trench
for the electrical project was open, they decided to extend water service, as well.
Haun acknowledged that the park’s electrical cost has increased – by $130 a month, he said – but that the
amount spent at the park is “minuscule” when compared to the township’s budget – the park takes up 1
percent – and the administrative budget – 6 percent.
“I think they were improvements and I think that we’re moving in a good direction down there,” Haun said. “I just
wanna make sure that the general public, for what they read, and give them an explanation of that.”
Suttles said he stood by his argument.
“The bottom line is there were two things in that issue: our budget was at this amount in 2016, and the
levy was voted down, and the budget went up,” he said. “Numbers, the budget, and how much we spent,
all that’s agreed, but that was going against what the public said, no. That was the point.”
