The president of the Lansdowne-Riverview Recreation and Parks Council says the group plans to appeal the decision of the Baltimore County recreation board to decertify it.

“We had no idea this was coming,” council President Donte White said. “No inkling.”

But Eric van den Beemt, the chairman of the county Board of Recreation and Parks, said the decision last week to decertify the council was not taken lightly. The board has decertified one council in the past decade, he said.

He said the vote to decertify the Lansdowne-Riverview council, which effectively shuts down the group's events and activities, was made in the best interest of children and their families.

“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.

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.

A former vice president of the council was charged last year in the theft of more than $20,000.

Authorities say Shalanda Nix made unauthorized withdrawals from the council's bank account.

Nix, 40, was charged with felony theft in Anne Arundel County, where the 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 problems, but not the reason the board decertified it, van den Beemt said. He said the county board spent a year trying to get the council on the right foot.

White, the first African-American president of the council, has been in his position since July 2015. He said the council has been “dysfunctional for at least the last five to six years,” but it is not beyond repair.

When he joined the council about five years ago, he said, votes broke down along racial lines. Over the last two years, 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.

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.

According to the county, the council was originally decertified in June 2015, recertified in July 2015 and placed on probation for six months.

The board continued to extend the probation period after that.

When the council was put on probation, it was told it needed to keep its finances in order and redo its bylaws, White said. Beyond the theft charges, he said, finances since then have been in order and the bylaws were completed.

The council's permits to use county fields are revoked. It can pay outstanding bills but not incur new liabilities. It cannot accept new registration money or donations.

Baltimore Sun reporter Alison Knezevich contributed to this article.