By MONROE ROARK
Staff Writer

The Peachtree City Commission on Children and Youth has downsized while in the process of reorganizing and taking another look at its mission and overall goals.

With the nature of the commission's business being what it is, board members can often have a difficult time reconciling the time required for their duties with the other obligations in their lives that make them good candidates for appointment in the first place.

“Like all other commissions, it's manned by volunteers,” said CCY coordinator Bernice Wassell. “The people who serve are usually parents who have children at the age where they need attention — usually school-age children. Many times, the commissioners find that balancing a commitment to the CCY, their families and their children's activites outside of school turns out to be a bit of a juggle.”

The fact that board members are often professionals in legal, medical or other fields adds to the time crunch.

“We, of all the commissions and boards, are real hands-on, and that turns out to be a big-time commitment on the commissioners,” said Wassell.

The CCY is normally comprised of eight people, but a few have stepped down due to the reasons listed above, and two members' terms expire Aug. 31. That leaves only three members, making it impossible to have a quorum (five) as designated in the city ordinance that organized the group.

The City Council, at the CCY's request, temporarily solved that problem at its July 1 meeting by reducing the membership from eight to five. Official City Council action was necessary for the CCY to be able to carry on its business and have access to the fiscal budget that was appropriated by the city.

Nick Harris is the current chair of the CCY, with Tonya Curry serving as vice chair and Teresa Vannier as treasurer. Lynn Grant will step down next month, as will Willie Kellings.

Wassell says the board is content to go with three members for a while while it regroups.

“They're going to look at their master plan that they developed last year, and once they've come up with what they feel the community needs based on the master plan and perhaps some input from the community, then they will advise the City Council to go on and approve new members,” she said.

One major event that's right on schedule is the annual Last Fling, set for August just before school starts back.

“It's a family event totally funded by the city,” said Wassell. “This will be the tenth anniversary. We usually have anywhere from 2,000 to 3,500 people come.”

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