Glen Ellyn Park District Receives Transparency Award

Pictured from Left to Right: Commissioner Pierce, Commissioner Dunn, Commissioner Mayo , Brian Costin (Director of Government Reform, Illinois Policy Institute), President Kinzler, Commissioner Creech, Commissioner Nephew.

From the Glen Ellyn Park District press release: 

GLEN ELLYN, IL – The Glen Ellyn Park District recently received a “Sunshine Award” from the Illinois Policy Institute, a nonpartisan and nonprofit research organization, for their achievements in government transparency. The Glen Ellyn Park District is one of the first park district in Illinois to receive the award.

Several years ago, the current Park Board of Commissioners identified and established improving government transparency for the Glen Ellyn Park District as a priority. Over the past year, the Glen Ellyn Park District has worked collaboratively with Brian Costin, Director of Government Reform for the Illinois Policy Institute, to improve their online transparency and satisfy a 10-Point Transparency checklist. The Glen Ellyn Park District was successful in achieving an above passing grade, satisfying the institute’s “Local Transparency Project.”

“Online transparency is very important so citizens can partake in local government in an educated manner and to protect against corruption. To get in our Sunshine Award category, you have to get 80% or better. Out of the 350 or so government agencies we’ve evaluated, only around 45 have achieved that. I want to thank the Board for their hard work on becoming more transparent for their citizens,” said Costin.

The 10-Point Transparency Checklist measures how much public data is readily available on a government website and includes: financial audits, contact information for elected officials, information on public meetings, taxes and fees, and guidelines for citizens to access public information through the Freedom of Information Act.

“I am very ­proud of the park district for receiving this award. Our commitment to transparency is about more than just our website, but also reaching out to residents for input on important topics, broadcasting and archiving all of our meetings, and informing residents about park district news through various sources. I hope that more government agencies make the effort to operate transparently,” said Melissa Creech, Glen Ellyn Park District Board of Commissioners.

For more information on the Glen Ellyn Park District, please visit www.gepark.org or view the Park District’s transparency information at http://gepark.org/boa_transparency.html.

For additional information regarding the Illinois Policy Institute and their transparency audit, visitwww.illinoispolicy.org.

Ackerman Woods Work Day: This Saturday

There is an Ackerman Woods work day this Saturday, March 16 from 9:00-11:00 am.

Join your neighbors to help clean-up and restore the woods at Ackerman Park. Work will focus on removing invasive plant species and picking up garbage. Tools and leather gloves will be available for use. Work is geared for ages 10 and up. Scouts and volunteer organizations are welcome too!

Please send me an email if you need more information.

See you there!

Lenox Road Reconstruction

As part of their on-going street reconstruction program, the Village of Glen Ellyn will rebuild Lenox Road between Hawthorne and Oak this summer. This is a Village project, but the Glen Ellyn Park District has made recommendations to the Village since we are the largest landowner in the project area.  Our recommendation includes constructing the first green street in Glen Ellyn. We believe that Lake Ellyn Park and the surrounding streets could serve as an example of best practices for water management and environmental quality.  

Our first priority is to protect the trees along Lenox Road. The Park District strongly encourages the Village to employ leading edge, high performance strategies and techniques regarding tree protection and sustainable storm water management. Our proposal calls for permeable unit pavement systems for the street and sidewalk and bioswales along the east edge of the street. 

After residents approached the Park District with concerns about safety and speeding on Lenox Road we focused on calming traffic. Most importantly, our plan calls for narrowing the driving lanes on Lenox Road and providing parallel and diagonal parking mixed with greenspace along the east side of the road. A narrowed road will slow traffic down and move pavement further from our mature trees. Further safety measures include speed tables, differentiated pavement surfaces, marked crosswalks and a sidewalk along the east side. This plan will make Lenox Road a safer, more beautiful street while benefiting the environment.

We have seen evidence of the success of these strategies elsewhere, and are eager for Glen Ellyn to capitalize upon them.  Attached are a set of priorities and concepts related to the Lenox Road reconstruction that we believe are essential to the long-term improvement of the park and the neighborhood. They include better accessibility, safety, tree preservation, environmental quality and beauty along the Park’s western, more active edge. Additional information is available at our website http://gepark.org/boa_LE-Park-Plan.html.

The Park District is grateful and appreciative to have the chance to provide input to the design process. We have encouraged the Village to recognize the unique opportunity this presents and to give strong consideration to the ideas and concepts presented.  The Village’s Capital Improvement Committee will discuss Lenox Road at their next meeting on February 12, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. at Room 301 at the Civic Center. At this meeting they intend to finalize their recommendations on Lenox Road for the Village Board of Trustees. This meeting is open to the public. 

Park District Candidates for Next Election

from a recent Glen Ellyn Park District press release:

As the terms expire for four current Glen Ellyn Park District Board Members, three are running to retain their seats.

Four Glen Ellyn residents are running to fill the at large seats on the board, according to the Glen Ellyn Park District. The election will be held April 9.

In April, terms expire for board commissioners Ron Aubrey, Melissa Creech, Gordon J. Kinzler and Julia Nephew. Aubrey is the only board member not seeking re-election. Glen Ellyn resident Vanessa Pierce is the fourth candidate running for a seat on the board, according to the Glen Ellyn Park District.

The board is comprised of seven unpaid volunteers. The board members represent the district’s 35,000 residents in Glen Ellyn, parts of unincorporated Glen Ellyn, Carol Stream, Glendale Heights, Lombard and Wheaton, according to the Glen Ellyn Park District. The terms for the three other board members — Kathy Cornell, Richard Dunn, and Gary Mayo — continue through April 2015.

 The candidates as they will appear on the April 9 ballot:

• Vanessa Pierce
• Gordon J. Kinzler
• Melissa Creech
• Julia Nephew

Ackerman Woods Trail Complete!

Happy New Year Everyone!

The new trail through Ackerman Woods is complete and open to the public. The trail is a quarter-mile loop through the woods. Access the trail from either of the two clearings on the west side, off Riford Road or at two access points on the east side just past the clearing off Lenox Road. Thanks to the Glen Ellyn Park District staff for all of their hard work clearing the path and laying wood chips. It's a really nice trail!

The boardwalk at Churchill Park is also complete. The east side of the loop trail there has been submerged or too muddy to walk through for much of the past few years. A new boardwalk system gives us year-round access to this park.

Stop by these parks for a nice walk in the woods!