Document text
Skate park case spurs resignation Talent official calls move `oppressive' TALENT -- A Talent City Council member resigned Thursday after the council adopted a policy to temporarily close the skateboard park if graffiti is found. Joi Riley, a member of the council for about four and a half years and a former planning commissioner, resigned in protest over the decision made during Tuesday's meeting. She calls the move "oppressive" and "bullyish." Under the new policy, the park would remain closed to the public until the graffiti is removed by the city. Riley says she supported the council's decisions to lock the gate at night and to look into motion sensor lighting, but not the closure policy. "I think if we had done everything humanly possible to secure the area," says Riley, "...that would've been the appropriate response." Talent Mayor Marian Telerski says she was surprised by Riley's resignation. She says Riley worked "very hard" on the council and put a lot of energy into everything she did. "It's unfortunate that it ended this way, but if that's her choice, that's her choice," says Telerski. Riley says despite a good relationship with council members previously, she couldn't support this move. She lived in Alabama during the '60s and was a witness to the oppression of African Americans during the civil rights movement. Riley sees the policy "as absolutely the same thing." It's one issue she'll always stick to, she says. Riley says the council is choosing to punish hundreds of children over the actions of just a couple. "I remember what it was like to be a child," she says, "... and it seems to me like everybody my age forgot what they did when they were adolescents and teenagers." Telerski says, "The point is to close it until the graffiti is removed, not just to punish." Riley says she does not plan to be involved with the Talent City Council again. Since Riley resigned during her term, there will not be an election to replace her. Instead, the council will set a timeline for applications and choose among applicants to fill the seat. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA