Understaffed Carmel Recreation Department may have to cancel events

MAHOPAC, N.Y.—Carmel Recreation and Parks officials told the Town Board at its May 7 meeting that their department is so understaffed that if something isn’t done soon, they may be forced to cancel some programs and events.

“We are under water at Rec, we really are,” said Dave Furfaro, chair of the Recreation and Parks Advisory Committee. “They are working a ridiculous number of hours, and you are going to lose them. You can only work so many hours a day.”

Nina Kallmeyer, director of Recreation and Parks, said her department is “historically understaffed.”

“I believe it is my duty to bring our staff up to par with other municipalities,” she told the board. “This would provide our residents with the best recreation experience possible and give our current staff a break and prevent burnout and [give them] more time with their families.”

Currently, the Recreation and Parks Department oversees the maintenance of nine town parks. It has just seven full-time employees, including two recreation professionals, one account clerk, one office assistant, and three maintenance workers.

“We do hire part-time employees who assist with events and maintenance, as well as for seasonal workers like for our summer camp and waterfront program,” Kallmeyer explained. “But part-timers don’t often stay as long as we’d like due to their pursuit of full-time work, which leads to a higher turnover rate and constant training. It limits our ability to offer more programs and events.”

Kallmeyer noted that some of the events the department currently oversees include Harvest Fest, Nightmare Circus, the egg hunt, the Sunset Concert Series, Fall Concert Series, and the farmers market.

“We run a summer camp at Sycamore Park that offers an affordable option for town residents,” she said. “For 2025, we have 370 campers and a wait list of more than 65 people. We brought in more than $250,000 in revenue just from the summer camp. We offer other programs at Sycamore Park and other facilities for all ages, from infants to senior citizens.”

Kallmeyer said her small staff is able to accomplish all this because “we truly care about this community.”

“However, in recent weeks we’ve had to cancel or postpone some events and activities due to staffing shortages,” she said. “With camp season approaching, it is crucial we are fully staffed. We definitely need additional staff to keep our department running smoothly. I am deeply concerned if we don’t hire someone for [recreational leader], we will have to cancel some more programs and events. We have set high standards for these events, and if we cannot meet these standards, we cancel these events.”

Kallmeyer said there is money in the 2025 budget set aside to hire another recreational leader, and after an extensive interview process, they’ve chosen Mahopac resident Juliette Cazzari, the daughter of Supervisor Mike Cazzari.

“I have to be transparent about the hiring process for the position of recreation leader and explain why we recommend Juliette Cazzari for this role,” Kallmeyer said.

She said her department reached out to the county for the current Civil Service recreational leader list and canvassed that list. Candidates must have taken the rec leader Civil Service exam and scored in the top three to be considered. They also prioritized Carmel residents. As a result, they interviewed nine candidates.

“One candidate stood out—Juliette Cazzari,” Kallmeyer said. “She is exceptionally qualified for this position.”

Juliette Cazzari has a bachelor’s degree in communications with a background in public relations and a minor in digital art. She finished third in the Civil Service test and interned for the town in 2023, assisting as a market manager for the farmers market. She recently worked for the town of Kent’s recreation department overseeing many of its sports programs.

“She has a strong work ethic and positive attitude,” Kallmeyer said, urging the board to green-light the hiring. “We need someone who can step seamlessly into this role. She is the only candidate who can hit the ground running with minimal training.”

Councilman Mike Lugo said that though Juliette Cazzari may have the qualifications, he opposes the hiring of town representatives’ friends and family members and abstained from the vote.

“I have expressed my feelings about bringing in family and close friends to work for the town of Carmel,” he said. “I own businesses here in Carmel and firmly believe in not bringing in family and friends and mixing business with pleasure.”

Councilman Rob Kearns concurred and abstained as well.

“I am going to have to echo what Councilman Lugo said,” Kearns said.

The measure passed 3-0, with Supervisor Cazzari and council members Frank Lombardi and Suzy McDonough all voting in favor of hiring Juliette Cazzari.

Kallmeyer said she understood why some may question the hiring but was confident Cazzari would be an asset to the town.

“I totally understand the concern, but my goal is to make sure recreation comes first and we get the job done,” she said. “She (Cazzari) applied and, based on the interview and experience, we thought she would be a perfect fit. There are optics involved, but I had to look away from that and remember what our goals are. It would be unfair to look past her just because of her last name.”

Supervisor Cazzari said it was simply a case of his daughter being the best candidate and that critics don’t understand the Civil Service protocol.

“If you do any research on Civil Service, you’ll find you get qualified people and not just people you like,” he said. “We get the list from the county, and you will have the proper qualifications. You have to be in the top three [in Civil Service test scores], and in this case, only one person was qualified. We make sure the county approves the hire. Not to let someone get the job because of their last name is not right. It seems horribly unfair. The county approved her hiring.”

But Furfaro said hiring a new rec leader isn't enough.

“We [also] need a maintenance supervisor. I cannot tell you how urgent that is,” he said. “We need some maintenance leadership. It is not just our fields, but our buildings. There are maintenance issues everywhere.”

Kearns said he walked the athletic fields recently and was taken aback by what he found.

“I planned to stop for 20 minutes, but I was there for two hours. I couldn’t believe the stuff I was seeing,” he said. “Batting cages were on the ground, someone had taken a sod cutter and removed sod from the outfield. There were MSA games the following day, and there were safety concerns with sod missing. It was unacceptable.”

Supervisor Cazzari said he hoped to be able to fund the maintenance position and hire someone soon.

“In the tentative [2025] budget that I submitted, the town hall building maintenance position was changed to part-time, and the resulting savings were allocated to help fund two new Recreation Department positions: a recreation administrator and a park maintenance worker,” Cazzari said. “However, the Town Board amended my tentative budget.

“We need to hire one now and one for next year,” he said. “We actually need at least six people, but we have the tax cap and all the unfunded mandates to deal with. But I think there is enough to give them one.”

Cazzari said the town has used volunteers to help maintain athletic fields, but they sometimes make things worse.

“We need someone with expertise and professional knowledge who can direct the volunteers,” he noted. “[Plus, the Rec Department] has no equipment or machinery. They didn’t even have a dump truck.”

The supervisor said he took $25,000 from the town budget and Kallmeyer took $25,000 from the recreation budget, and together they were able to purchase the much-needed dump truck.