But the question of who else, if anyone, to ban is still open.
So on Tuesday a committee of Ansonia Aldermen voted to move forward with a new law establishing “child protection zones” in which sex offenders are prohibited, but took no action on a proposal to screen volunteers in recreation programs for criminal convictions.
The background check proposal caused an outcry at the regular Aldermen’s meeting last week, where several coaches in the city’s youth football program urged city officials to rethink it.
They said good volunteers are hard to find — and the volunteers that the resolution sought to ban are often the same people at-risk kids need to hear from the most.
Mayor David Cassetti told the concerned coaches that they’d be in the program as long as he is in the mayor’s office, and that the rules would be hashed out further at a meeting of Aldermen and recreation officials.
That meeting has not happened, or been scheduled, yet.
But on Tuesday two residents involved in youth sports told the Aldermen’s ordinance committee that some sort of rules are needed to guide volunteers running the programs.
Article continues after copy of the background check proposal.
Screening Policy by ValleyIndyDotOrg
Past President: How Can Volunteers Make Judgment Calls?
Brad Zealor is a past president of Ansonia Youth Football and Cheer, and has also directed softball for the city’s Little League for several years.
He told the Aldermen that AYFC already does background checks — but there’s little criteria to direct who to exclude.
Those convicted of any crime against a child are automatically disqualified, Zealor said.
But anything beyond that is a judgment call — and a judgment call volunteers shouldn’t be making.
“A report comes back and lets us know if there has been a crime against a minor, sexual or otherwise,” Zealor said. “It is then the responsibility of the volunteer to push the accept button. That’s where my problem lies. As a volunteer, why should I or anyone else have to take on that responsibility?”
Zealor then posed a what if: Say the organization allows a coach with a background check that’s returned with a criminal history — but no crimes against minors — who then commits a crime.
“Does that come back on me? Does that come back on the town?” Zealor wondered. “How can I make a judgment call like that?”
“If we don’t have anything … we have nothing to follow,” Zealor added later. “It’s a judgment call by us to say whether this person is fit or this person is unfit … There’s nothing the town has to help us make that decision.”
Click the play button on the video above to see a portion of Zealor’s remarks.
The city’s corporation counsel, John Marini, said the proposal will be discussed at a meeting that will probably be scheduled some time next week.
The city’s director of recreation, Jeff Coppola, said he’d be reaching out to league officials with other youth sports groups to get their input as well.
Chris Saddler, a board member on the city’s Little League, urged the city to act quickly, noting he’ll have to be doing background checks for that organization’s volunteers next month.
“Hopefully we could have this policy set in place soon,” Saddler said.
Maynard Speaks
Keith Maynard, a former Aldermen who is currently a board member of the youth football program, also spoke Tuesday.
Maynard, who was sentenced to prison in 2011 for assaulting his then-fiancee, repeated a point he made at last week’s meeting — that he volunteers with other youth organizations that never raised any issues about his past before.
So why is the city suddenly so concerned with liability?
Lawyers, Marini replied.
“You want to take as many precautions as you can to insulate a city, to insulate a rec program, from an attack of someone who’s going to try to pin the blame on anyone or anything … We’re not looking to try to penalize someone twice for a crime, especially if it has nothing to do with a child,” Marini said.
“But at the same time the board’s trying to adopt a reasonable standard to insulate kids from harm and at the same time keep as much of the city and their volunteers safe from that litigious attorney who is going to try to extract punishment from anything around the situation,” the attorney went on.
Maynard said after the meeting he thinks the proposal was brought up because he got involved with the football program after his release from jail.
He said he wasn’t swayed by Zealor’s concerns about volunteers having to make judgment calls about background checks.
“You’re in a position of leadership. You make the educated decision,” he said. “If you have grounds enough to defend your answer, then so be it. If you’re unsure of yourself, then you’re in the wrong position.”
