Abbeville City Council will talk about parks and recreation at Tuesday's meeting

The Abbeville City Council is expected to speak about the future of the city’s recreation department, and possibly rehiring its former parks and recreation director Jerry Smith at Tuesday's city council meeting at 5:30 p.m. in Abbeville’s City Hall.
The city council has to decide what it wants to do with recreation in Abbeville due to last week’s 3-2 vote that dismissed Smith.
Parents in Abbeville have already begun registering their children for summer ball and the newly formed track league. Many are worried there will not be any summer baseball or track league.
There has been talk about Abbeville children playing in a private youth league, but it that was not a popular choice by the Abbeville citizens who attended the public meeting Friday in the Abbeville library. The residents voiced their concerns about having to travel out of town for games and to practice baseball if the town joined a private league.
They were not in favor of traveling out of Abbeville for games or for practice.
Abbeville Mayor Mark Piazza assured the residents there will be a summer league youth program in Abbeville. He could not give any details because the city council has to vote on the direction it wants to go with recreation in Abbeville.
One direction could be rehiring Smith as the parks and recreation director of Abbeville.
“We need people at the city council Tuesday to show our support for Mr. Smith,” said Shakelia Shelvin at the meeting on Friday. “We want to try and push (rehiring) Mr. Smith. We have to make a stand.”
Smith, who attended the Friday night meeting, said if he was rehired by the council tonight, he would go back on two terms: he would be given a raise and the city would have to find him a new assistant
Those at the meeting would like the city council to rehire Smith. The residents said by voting not to rehire him is a “slap in the face” to him and the children of Abbeville.
Bridgette Winters spoke highly about Smith by saying he had the youth program moving in the right direction.
“I hope it works in Mr. Jerry’s favor,” said Winters. “You can tell by the outpouring of support. Based on what we have seen and heard, this man was moving in a positive direction. If it does not work in his favor and they do not reinstate him, who do you think is going to want to come here? Who do you think is going to relocate their family? Who do you think is going to say, ‘It is in my heart, I want to give something back to the community. Oh, my bad, if I make one person mad.’
‘That has to change,” Winters said. “People that are doing the right thing are being punished for the wrong reasons. That needs to change.”