The North Whidbey Park and Recreation District might be looking for a new executive director, just as a contract for the new swim coach is being finalized.

In the meantime, the district continues to have problems with fulfilling public records requests.

Gino Wolfe, executive director of the district, emailed an informal letter of resignation to the board of commissioners Monday afternoon.

“As of Jan. 1, 2015, I respectfully resign for a number of reasons,” the email states. “I will complete my assigned tasks, but I am done.”

Allan McDougall, president of the board of commissioners, said that if Wolfe makes the resignation official, he would be “pretty upset.”

“I think we need him,” he said.

However, McDougall acknowledged that opinions of the board as a whole are, he thinks, “totally divided.”

McDougall and Commissioner Steve Hoffmire said Wolfe’s recent health issues may be part of the reason he is resigning.

“I think that him battling with his back injury, it has led him to make this decision,” Hoffmire said. “I know his evaluation was coming up this month, and … (in) my opinion, it probably has caused him to stop and … realize that he hasn’t been able to put his heart and soul into it.”

“I believe there’s been some mistakes,” he added, “and I think some of that could be attributed to the fact that he has not been able to put the time that he would like into it.”

Wolfe could not be reached by press time for comment.

In recent months, some board members have raised concerns with Wolfe’s performance, mostly on the issue of the head coach of the North Whidbey Aquatic Club.

In August, Wolfe terminated the district’s contract with the former head coach Bill Patterson without board approval, resulting in two special meetings for the board to address the issue. District bylaws state that the executive director needs board approval to hire or fire district employees.

The termination was eventually approved by the board, and a search committee including Wolfe was formed to find a new head coach.

After the committee conducted interviews, Wolfe presented a boilerplate contract that members of the board rejected, pending revisions. But at the Nov. 20 regular meeting, it came to light that both Wolfe and head coach candidate Dick Taylor had already signed the contract. It was voided by the board’s action.

Finally, in a special meeting held Dec. 3, the revised contract was presented to the board and approved, pending the receipt of the background check materials Wolfe failed to provide the board. He instead gave an oral report of the findings.

Wolfe was asked to provide the background check material to members of the board as soon as possible, after which the commissioners would either allow Wolfe to present the offer to Taylor or call another special meeting to discuss the findings if there were any questions.

A special meeting to discuss the background check material will be held tonight at 7 p.m. at the John Vanderzicht Pool.

Hoffmire said that he has questions not about the findings of the background check, but how extensive the check was.

“It’s not on what’s been found,” Hoffmire said. “It’s just more, I’d like to see a little bit more. … We did not see anything in the background check that led us to think this person has committed a crime or anything like that.”

McDougall said that the most important part of the background check for the district was whether the candidate had a history of sexual offenses, and in that regard, McDougall said, Taylor is “absolutely clean.”

“We have to be over-cautious,” McDougall said at the last special meeting. “That’s what we’re doing: We’re being prudent, and we have to do that formally. Carefully.”

Hoffmire said at the special meeting that the district is still settling lawsuits from 12 years ago due to background checks not being done properly.

The Whidbey News-Times requested a copy of the contract approved at the public meeting Thursday, Dec. 4, and was told it would be sent the next day, but the district failed to provide it. An official public records request was filed Monday, Dec. 8.

Wolfe emailed the newspaper Tuesday and claimed the contract hadn’t been approved and couldn’t be released. He didn’t cite an exemption, as required by law.

Michele Earl-Hubbard, an attorney who is an expert on media law, confirmed that the document is public and should be released.

The News-Times finally received a copy from a commissioner Tuesday afternoon.

Hoffmire said the problem isn’t unique, but that he’s heard from others who have had problems receiving public documents from the district. Hoffmire said he even submitted a couple of requests himself Nov. 14 and has had issues with the process as well. He didn’t receive a response from the district within five days, which is required by law.

“What concerns me most is, the law is very simple when it comes to that,” Hoffmire said, adding that the district is clearly failing to meet that law.

“I think that, to honor open government, that’s the first step: honoring public record requests.”