Monell's layoff as complex supervisor not a good sign

The news came like a cold slap in the face, yet another unfortunate sign of the times.

The city of Elgin laid off 11 employees Thursday, eliminating positions as it tries to deal with a $5.5 million deficit looming for 2010.

The release of one of those people and the elimination of one of those positions hit home in the local sports world and when you read this I'll probably still be in shock.

Mike Monell, who has been the supervisor of the Elgin Sports Complex the past 10 years or so, got the ax Thursday, two days before 80 girls fastpitch softball teams from around the Midwest come to town for one of the largest college exposure tournaments in the country.

You have to know Mike Monell and the job he did for the city to truly appreciate what a huge negative this is and could be in the future.

Monell didn't just supervise the complex. That was his title and a job he did well. I see a lot of sports complexes all around the country and given the resources Mike had to work with, or should I say the lack of resources he had to work with, he ran the best. But Monell did things far and above his job description. He reached out to people and worked with people, making the complex an attractive place for organizations within and outside the city to rent. Through his job, he was a true ambassador for the city and I know for a fact there are two reasons some of the largest softball and soccer tournaments in the Chicago area are held in Elgin: Because we have more fields than any other city, and because of Mike Monell.

I'm not the only one who was saddened, shocked and angered by the news Monell had been let go.

"Mike has done so much for me and my program," said Judson University softball coach Becky Stenning. "He bends over backwards for you. If I need a double base he gets it. If I need a field get gets me one. If I need a snow fence, he gets it."

A couple of years ago, Missouri Baptist College was scheduled to play at Judson on one of those cruddy weekends where it was too wet for a duck. Stenning had to guarantee a game or pay for their trip.

"And Mike got a field ready for me," Stenning said. "He understood when things were vital."

Monell also worked closely with the city's high schools to bring some of their games to the complex. He also had a soccer field ready when school facilities were too wet or muddy, and there has been more than one Saturday over the years that softball tournaments hosted by St. Edward and Larkin would not have been played without Monell's leadership - and labor - in getting fields ready.

It's no secret I dabble a little in summer travel ball as a hobby, a hobby made easier over the years through my relationship with Monell. And the one thing I learned is that he cares about the people who are paying good money to rent Elgin's facilities. He's the first one there every morning, sometimes at 5 a.m., to jump on a tractor and get things going, and the way he communicates with tournament directors is second to none. And he knew how to do his job better than anyone I've met who does the same job. Last summer, on Father's Day weekend, every single softball tournament in the Chicago area was called off due to rain. We played in Elgin.

"Mike was a great guy to work with," said Illinois Alleycats founder Tom Potter, whose team played countless games at the complex over the years. "He was a very dependable person and you never had to worry about where things stood when there was bad weather. You ended up playing most of the time."

City manager Sean Stegall made it clear the decision to eliminate Monell and his position was strictly financial and not based on performance.

"It's been a brutally difficult day," Stegall told me late Thursday afternoon. "Mike was a good employee and he's a better person. We're consolidating a lot of areas and we had to decide of we could still run the complex without that position. The answer was yes. But that was a difficult one and probably the most difficult.

"The sports complex will continue. Can we keep it at the level Mike had it? That will be difficult. Mike's performance was good."

Stegall said Maria Cumpata, the city's recreation and facilities superintendent, would be taking over Monell's position. "She'll be taking on a lot more hours," Stegall said.

Surely there will be other people in the parks and recreation department who will find themselves with new duties as well.

We can only hope this move doesn't cost the city business - business that came here and stayed here in large part because of Mike Monell. Business that not only rented the city's facilities, but stayed in the city's hotels and ate in the city's restaurants and gambled at the city's boat.

If the people now in charge of running the complex don't run it to the standards Monell has for the past 10 years, that business could go elsewhere.

Then, Monell's salary will seem like pennies compared to what the city loses.

jradtke@dailyherald.com