Brian Haskins is back on the Jefferson County Parks Foundation board.
Haskins, a High Ridge resident who represents District 1 on the Jefferson County Council and has been outspoken in his support of expanding county parks, was reappointed to the all-volunteer board in early June by its two remaining members.
The Parks Foundation board, a non¬profit independent group, holds events to raise money to support county parks programs.
Haskins served on the foundation board from 2011 to 2015, when he and several others resigned in protest of the County Council’s decision to not place a tax increase proposal before voters.
In 2018, Haskins campaigned for the District 1 County Council seat with a pro-parks message, then lobbied unsuccessfully for his fellow County Council members to place a parks tax increase on the ballot in 2019.
Haskins, 64, said he initially had in¬tended to keep a lower profile for the time being, but the remaining two members of the foundation board, Danny Tuggle and Ron Deichman, asked him to consider rejoining it.
Tuggle said he hopes Haskins’ energy will help the foundation board continue its mission. Upon his reinstatement to the board, Tuggle and Deichman installed Haskins as president.
“We felt like Brian was a very good person for coming up with ideas to fund programs for parks,” Tuggle said. “He has a good idea what needs to be done.”
The foundation board does not have a set membership number; Haskins said when he was on the board before, it had as many as seven mem¬bers.
“With only two members left, they (Tuggle and Deich¬man) felt like they were in danger of the board being dis¬solved,” Haskins said. “I’m ready to come back and put the energy back into it.”
Haskins said he wants to ensure that the Big River Run, the Foundation’s major fundraiser, continues.
“We started it in 2014 and I organized it the first two years,” Haskins said. “It brings in about $4,000 to $6,000 after expenses. If the board dissolved, the run probably would have gone with it. I didn’t want that to happen.”
He said he’d also like to organize a second event, a biathlon, involving bicy¬clists.
Because the foundation board is not a government entity, Haskins said he does not see the appointment as a conflict of interest.
“We’re a nonprofit group,” he said. “We receive no money from any govern¬ment. I don’t see how that can be a conflict of interest.”
He did, however, concede that some of his critics would take note of the move.
“I’ve had a target on my back since before I was sworn in (to the County Council), and I accept that,” Haskins said. “If I didn’t, I never would have run for office. Some people have found me guilty of wanting to improve our county parks system. I’m guilty. But if some good things come out of this (his involvement with the foundation board), I’m OK with that.”