(Clarification: The Central Oregon Daily News was told by La Pine Park and Rec that the group that took over operations, the Southern Oregon Sports Alliance, is a nonprofit. SOSA is headed by Central Oregon – Contacted Daily and revealed it was an LLC).
In less than 24 hours, La Pine lost and regained its youth sports program.
On Tuesday, the La Pine Park and Rec Commission held an emergency meeting. After a closed board meeting, the board announced it was canceling youth sports, citing harassment and safety concerns.
The company also announced that a staff member had resigned due to harassment, but the details could not be disclosed, and the community is demanding further answers.
Board member Deren Ash provided some clarity to the public Wednesday.
La Pine Park and Rec is canceling youth sports, citing threats and safety concerns. Some community members told the Central Oregon Daily that the harassment incident did occur, but it’s unclear what exactly led to the board’s decision.
“Staff harassment occurred in the office, in the park, during private time, after work, and while out and about in the community,” Mr Ash said. “So some staff resigned. We also had volunteers who were very concerned, so we had to close the office. People were still there. What we were going to do. We had to close it down to the public while we figured out what we had to do and how we were going to deal with it. ”
The newly formed Southern Oregon Sports Alliance will oversee operations.
“Football will continue, and future sports, basketball and baseball will be run by non-profit parks and rec facilities,” Ash said.
(Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified SOSA as the Southern Oregon Sports Association.)