For several months the Glen Ellyn Park District Board has discussed changes to our meeting minutes. At our last meeting Commissioner Minogue said that the minutes needed to be "shortened" and say "not what was said, but only what happened." Previously, the Board minutes have consistently showed great detail.
Our December 15, 2009 (page 29) minutes, written in the new format, show that Jay, Julia and I voted No to the 2010 budget but show none of the issues or concerns that we made during the hour-long budget discussion. These minutes also show my motion for an audit of the Ackerman project, but none of my reasons for calling for an audit or the other commissioners' reasons for opposing the audit.
These changes make the Glen Ellyn Park District Board less transparent and give the public less information about the Glen Ellyn Park District meetings.
I opposed these changes, so I made a motion that the Glen Ellyn Park District Board minutes, in addition to statuary requirements, shall include a summary of public participation comments, a thorough summaries of all discussions, including opposing viewpoints, motions and votes. This motion failed. Creech, Kinzler and Nephew voted Yes, Hess and Minogue voted No and Dallman and Aubrey abstained.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
February 2 Meeting: St. Charles Rd. Project
The agenda and packet for the Glen Ellyn Park District February 2, 2010 meeting are not online yet. I will link to them when they are available. This is a workshop meeting with a short agenda.
The Board will vote on a proposal to sell a small strip of land (.127 acres) in Ackerman Park along St. Charles Road to the Village of Glen Ellyn. The Village will construct turning lanes at St. Charles Rd. and Riford Rd.
Glen Ellyn Park District board meetings are always open to the public and are held in the board room at the Spring Avenue Recreation Center at 7:00 p.m. Please join us!
The Board will vote on a proposal to sell a small strip of land (.127 acres) in Ackerman Park along St. Charles Road to the Village of Glen Ellyn. The Village will construct turning lanes at St. Charles Rd. and Riford Rd.
Glen Ellyn Park District board meetings are always open to the public and are held in the board room at the Spring Avenue Recreation Center at 7:00 p.m. Please join us!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Ackerman Paid for by Tax Increase
In the past week I have heard several comments about how the Ackerman Sports and Fitness Center was built without raising taxes. This is false.
Ackerman was paid for with funding from 3 sources: $7.4 million from the 2006 referendum bond money, $3.2 million from non-referendum bonds and the remaining from fund balances.
The park district taxpayers pay for all bonds. This is above and beyond the normal operating budget and outside of the constraints of the tax cap. Had the 2006 referendum failed, our taxes would have gone down. The Board voted this year to sell another $4 million in non-referendum bonds to finance Ackerman. Because of this new debt, we are collecting additional money from the tax payers in 2010 (2010 budget, page 65). Had the Board not borrowed this money, our taxes would have gone down.
The park district needs to sell bonds from time to time in order to finance park projects. This is necessary and appropriate. Let's not pretend though that our money doesn't come from our taxpayers.
Ackerman was paid for with funding from 3 sources: $7.4 million from the 2006 referendum bond money, $3.2 million from non-referendum bonds and the remaining from fund balances.
The park district taxpayers pay for all bonds. This is above and beyond the normal operating budget and outside of the constraints of the tax cap. Had the 2006 referendum failed, our taxes would have gone down. The Board voted this year to sell another $4 million in non-referendum bonds to finance Ackerman. Because of this new debt, we are collecting additional money from the tax payers in 2010 (2010 budget, page 65). Had the Board not borrowed this money, our taxes would have gone down.
The park district needs to sell bonds from time to time in order to finance park projects. This is necessary and appropriate. Let's not pretend though that our money doesn't come from our taxpayers.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Ackerman Open House 1-23
Come check out the Glen Ellyn Park District's new Ackerman Sports Complex at the Grand Opening Celebration this Saturday, January 23 from 10-3. The ribbon cutting is at 10:30.
During the open house there will be tours of the facility, free access to the walking track and climbing wall and other activities. There will be refreshments, prizes and giveaways too.
The Daily Herald has several stories on the new facility:
During the open house there will be tours of the facility, free access to the walking track and climbing wall and other activities. There will be refreshments, prizes and giveaways too.
The Daily Herald has several stories on the new facility:
Monday, January 18, 2010
Jan. 19 Meeting: ASC, Minutes, Budget
The agenda and packet for the Glen Ellyn Park District January 19, 2010 meeting are online. This is a regular meeting where the Board will discuss the Ackerman Sports Complex Cost Analysis, approve the 2010 budget and amend the 2009 budget.
A few things to note in the packet:
A few things to note in the packet:
- At the last meeting Commissioner Hess recommended that our meeting minutes be stripped down to just motions, votes and brief summaries of discussions, a departure from past Glen Ellyn Park District practice. The Dec. 15 minutes that are up for Board approval at this meeting show the new format. I have argued against these changes in the past and believe that the Glen Ellyn Park District should operate as transparently as possible.
- I intend to ask questions about the roof leak at Ackerman that is detailed on page 52 of the packet. The flooring contractor says that there is a 50% chance that the new gym floor will not have permanent damage.
- The Board will vote on final approval of the 2010 budget.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Ackerman Audit Resolution Fails
Our last meeting on Dec. 15 was covered in several newspaper articles because of revelations that the cost of the Ackerman Sports Complex is higher than staff had previously told the Board and that numerous change orders were approved by staff without the required board approval. We also learned that much of the work done in the change orders was for items that were supposed to be in the original bid documents.
In response to these admissions, I called for a forensic audit of the ASC project. This motion was voted down 4-3, with Commissioners Minogue, Hess, Dallman and Aubrey voting against.
There are two reasons that I believe an audit is necessary. The first is to get a complete reporting of ASC costs so that the Board can properly budget for the upcoming year. Staff repeatedly under-reported the total facility cost by at least $740,000 and at the same time told the Board that the project was within budget. The Board approved $220,000 in fitness equipment in September with the understanding that funding was coming from unspent contingency fund money- when in fact the contingency fund had already been wiped out. The Board voted to purchase that equipment based on faulty financial information.
The second reason is to determine whether we can recoup costs for errors and omissions. The Glen Ellyn Park District hired an architect and construction management company to prepare the ASC bid documents for us. If the mistakes in the bid documents were due to negligence we should make every attempt to recover the costs of these change orders.
The anticipated total expenditure for ASC is now $11.2 million. This included $800,000 in change orders that were largely unreported to the Board and $130,000 on interior furnishings that were not bid, budgeted for or approved by the Board.
I will continue to ask questions about this project until we have a complete accounting of the project. In order to move forward we need to complete ASC and ensure its profitability, learn where we stand financially, and recover any costs that we can.
In response to these admissions, I called for a forensic audit of the ASC project. This motion was voted down 4-3, with Commissioners Minogue, Hess, Dallman and Aubrey voting against.
There are two reasons that I believe an audit is necessary. The first is to get a complete reporting of ASC costs so that the Board can properly budget for the upcoming year. Staff repeatedly under-reported the total facility cost by at least $740,000 and at the same time told the Board that the project was within budget. The Board approved $220,000 in fitness equipment in September with the understanding that funding was coming from unspent contingency fund money- when in fact the contingency fund had already been wiped out. The Board voted to purchase that equipment based on faulty financial information.
The second reason is to determine whether we can recoup costs for errors and omissions. The Glen Ellyn Park District hired an architect and construction management company to prepare the ASC bid documents for us. If the mistakes in the bid documents were due to negligence we should make every attempt to recover the costs of these change orders.
The anticipated total expenditure for ASC is now $11.2 million. This included $800,000 in change orders that were largely unreported to the Board and $130,000 on interior furnishings that were not bid, budgeted for or approved by the Board.
I will continue to ask questions about this project until we have a complete accounting of the project. In order to move forward we need to complete ASC and ensure its profitability, learn where we stand financially, and recover any costs that we can.
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