Earlier in May, 21 News reported on numerous complaints filed by members of the "Save the Deer" group calling for the removal of Mill Creek Metroparks Board of Commissioners members. Now, the Metroparks has issued their response.

According to a May 9 filing in the Mahoning County Probate Court, the Metroparks denied all allegations set forth against them including allegations that the board "failed in [its] duties by refusing accountability to the public taxpayers who fund Mill Creek Park's operations.

"The Board accepts all accountability and responsibility for any and all decisions the board has made in the fulfillment of duties during the time of each commissioner's appointment," the Metroparks responded.

The Metroparks' response goes on to address allegations that they do not exercise their due diligence in the performances of their duties accusing them of simply stamping decisions made by Executive Director Aaron Young without knowledge of what they are.

The Metroparks fired back stating that they are "well-informed" about the action that is being taken or needs to be taken by Young thanks to "open communication and sharing of information."

Back in December, Save the Deer filed a petition to have Young removed from the Metroparks' board. The group accused the board of dismissing that petition and simply saying on record during a meeting that removing Young is not an option because "he makes money for us."

This filing notes that it's unclear whether "us" meant the Metroparks or the commissioners themselves.

Despite the filing from Save the Deer claiming this was said on the record during a meeting, the Metroparks' response states that the board has no record of that comment being made during that meeting.

The Metroparks further stated that it is Young's responsibility to seek and acquire third-party funding to fund the Metroparks and he does not engage in any action to generate funding for the commissioners themselves.

The Metroparks also denied allegations regarding the alleged dismissal of safety concerns raised by those who live near Metroparks property.

The Metroparks fired back stating they do take all safety concerns very seriously and noted that since the start of the deer hunting plan, zero safety-related issues have occurred.

In the filing from the Save the Deer group, specific concerns were listed including concerns about hunting activity taking place near people's homes, the potential danger of the hunts to park visitors, particularly children, no notices of where hunting was and wasn't permitted, etc.

The Metroparks did not respond to these allegations stating that this is in the authority of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, not the Metroparks.

From there, the Metroparks denied even more allegations pertaining to police response times, refusing to respond to complaints about hiring contractors from outside Mahoning County and one commissioner allegedly screaming at  a group member calling him a "liar" for questioning the decision of killing deer.

In regards to the allegations against the board member, the Metroparks explained their side of the story.

"During [the] public comments portion of the December 2023 public Board meeting, [the group member] claimed he heard the board was going to 'frack the park.' Following the adjournment of the public meeting, Commissioner [Jeff] Harvey informed the petitioner he should stop lying about fracking the park, to which [the group member] responded calling Commissioner Harvey a 'liar,'" the response reads.

The Metroparks stated that Harvey responded to the group member stating he never lied to them.

Other allegations denied include allegations that Young dismissed Metroparks employees without justification, allegations that Young eliminated numerous park programs, failure to account for public opinion and much more.

The Metroparks concluded by refusing to remove Young, as the group has not provided any sufficient reasons to do so and doing so would impede and interfere with the Metroparks' daily operations.

The full response can be read below.

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