PD Staff Denies Request for Ackerman Financial Information

During the past several board meetings, I have been working to get a better understanding of the state of our finances, in particular as they relate to the construction of the Glen Ellyn Park District Ackerman Sports Complex (ASC).

My initial concern began when a financial report I requested showed the projected total cost for ASC at over $12 million. This contradicted a memo which I requested from Director Atwell stating that the total cost for the facility will be $10.45 million. Voters approved $7.4 million for ASC in 2006.

Our board packets also included a running total, compiled by staff, of the amount paid to contractors. When I added up the pay requests myself I found that this total was under-reported by $1 million on the memos to the Board.

Furthermore, we were previously receiving monthly affidavits in our board packets from the ASC construction management company, Professional Building Services, which summarized the contract amounts, change orders, and payments for each of the trades working on ASC. These affidavits have been missing from the board packets since May.

Due to these disturbing errors and omissions in accounting on this project, I requested two items from staff: a complete listing of expenditures on ASC to date, and the missing affidavits. Although I requested theses documents from staff in writing and at two board meetings, I have not received any of these documents to date.

There is no legal reason for keeping this documents from board members, or for that matter, the public. I plan to pursue this matter at our next Glen Ellyn Park District board meeting on Tuesday, December 1.