Baltimore County's recreation board voted last week to decertify the Lansdowne-Riverview Recreation and Parks Council, effectively shutting down the group's activites and events.The rare decertification came as the board ordered expanded background checks for all volunteers who have access to local recreation programs' bank accounts, and to require them to be bonded.The Lansdowne council's president said an appeal is planned.The vote followed months of reviews that uncovered alleged thefts by volunteers at several county councils, which are in charge of a variety of recreational activities and programs in neighborhoodss across the county.The decertification, effective immediately, was a decision not taken lightly, according to Eric van den Beemt, the chairman of the county's Board of Recreation and Parks. The board has decertified one council in the last 10 years, he said.The decision was made in the best interest of children and their families, he said."If they're being impacted by a council that's dysfunctional, we have no other choice than to take some action," van den Beemt said.Donte White, president of the Lansdowne-Riverview Recreation and Parks Council, said he found out about the decertification after van den Beemt called him after the July 13 vote."We had no idea this was coming," he said. "No inkling."The council, which dates to October 1978, runs 17 athletic programs for children and adults, including cheerleading, wrestling, football and softball, according to its website.White, the first African American president of the council, has been in his position since July 2015. While he admits the council has been "dysfunctional for at least the last five to six years," he believes the group is not beyond repair.When he joined the council about five years ago, he said votes were divided by racial lines. Over the last two years, however, he said relationships started to improve."The problem is some of the people who have been there for 30 years, they don't want to let go of how things used to be. They don't want to see the future move forward," he said. "There are deep, deep, deep wounds in this rec council."Others, including Dayana Bergman, one of the council's program directors, believes there needs to be new, better trained leadership."The decertification definitely needs to happen," she said.Baltimore County's 46 recreation and nature councils are independent, nonprofit organizations with their own elected officers and volunteers. The groups raise their own money, but the county provides guidance and facilities.Shalanda Nix, a former vice president for Lansdowne-Riverview Recreation and Parks Council, was charged last year with stealing more than $20,000 by making unauthorized withdrawals from the council's bank account.Nix had theft convictions in Baltimore and Charles counties, but she was still approved to volunteer with Baltimore County.Nix, 40, was charged with felony theft in Anne Arundel County, where the recreation council's bank account is located. Authorities have issued a warrant for her arrest. No current attorney is listed in court records, and Nix could not be reached for comment.The case was indicative of the council's problem, but not the reason the board decertified it, van den Beemt said.Van den Beemt said two other recreation councils in the last year have discovered possible theft have recognized what they have done wrong and they are trying to fix the problem.Marvin B. March is accused of stealing thousands of dollars from the Arbutus Athletic Association, which he served as treasurer. March, 64, is charged with one count of felony theft. A trial has been set for this week, according to charging documents.Authorities accuse March of stealing roughly $5,600, allegedly to pay personal cellphone bills between 2010 and 2014. The athletic association made an "unwritten agreement" not to report the incident to police if he resigned and repaid the funds, according to charging documents.March repaid the money, the documents state, but a county detective received information about the alleged theft in December 2015 and began investigating.Authorities say the detective learned that roughly $3,600 more had been taken in ATM withdrawals between 2009 and 2013. When confronted by a member of the association board, authorities say, March said he did not put the money for personal use.An attorney for March declined to comment. Monika Campbell, president of the recreation council in Arbutus, said the money has been repaid and the issue is resolved.The county board spent a year trying to get the Lansdowne-Riverview council on the right foot, van den Beemt said.According to Baltimore County, the council was originally decertified June 2015 and recertified in July 2015 and placed on probation for six months. The board continued to extend the probation period after that and never removed the status, van den Beemt said.When the council was put on probation, it was told it needed to keep its finances in order and redo its bylaws, White said. Since then, beyond the theft charges, finances have been in order and while the bylaws were completed in June, a draft was approved in April, he said.What put the council back on the county's radar was the removal of an executive board member in June which made some members unhappy, White said.After the member told the county board she was illegally removed, county board members came to a June council meeting that White described as chaotic and embarassing."All of our meetings was not like how they was in June," he said. "We have been working on improving ourselves, even though the relationships are not good."The vote by the board to decertify the council was six in favor, none against and one abstention, van den Beemt said."We would hope things would get better," he said. "But there was so much internal strife and squabbling and pettiness, along with continued lack of financial controls."As a result, the Lansdowne-Riverview Recreation and Parks Council is no longer affiliated with Baltimore County. The council's permits to use county fields are revoked. It can pay existing bills but not incur liabilties. It cannot accept new registration money or donations. Programs are halted, van den Beemt said.Moving forward, the programs under the Lansdowne-Riverview Recreation and Parks Council umbrella have three options, van den Beemt said. They are:•If another recreation council is formed and approved by the county, they can be can be incorporated under it.•Programs can apply to neighboring recreation councils.•They can remain independent and apply for a permit to use county facilities. They would also need to get their own insurance — something Baltimore County provides to programs that are part of councils — in order to use the fields.The Lansdowne-Riverview council's executive board will meet July 26 to decide what to do next, White said. He is optimistic members can work out their problems.He believes an appeal before the county board will be heard in August, when the council will have to explain why it should be decertified."We have to decide what's more important, the personal vendettas or the children of this community," he said. "And if we decide that our personal vendettas is more important than the children of the community, we need to walk away."—Baltimore Sun reporter Alison Knezevich contributed to this report.