Update: interim Director and 2011 Budget

January 18, 2011

The Board appointed Kathleen Esposito and Dave Scarmardo to be interim executive directors. Commissioners Hess, Dallman, Minogue and Aubrey voted yes, Commissioners Creech, Kinzler and Nephew voted no. I voted no because I do not think it is in the best interest of the park district to have two interim directors.

When Director Atwell announced his retirement in November I immediately suggested that the Board hire an interim director. President Hess refused to consider an interim director and said that we would have a permanent director in place by the time Atwell left on January 14. The only option that President Hess let the Board consider was the dual interim directors. I think we are much better served by one director and a clear chain of command.

The Board elected new officers for 2010 at this meeting: President- Ed Hess, Vice President- Ron Aubrey, Treasurer- Melissa Creech.

During Matters from Commissioners I urged staff to focus on a few high-priority projects. We need to have the Lake Ellyn flooding project in place and operational before spring rains come. We also need to put in paths at Spalding and Surrey parks as soon as the weather breaks for greater access at those parks.

December 21, 2010
The Board approved the 2011 budget on a 4-3 vote with Commissioners Hess, Dallman, Minogue and Aubrey voting yes, and Commissioners Creech, Kinzler and Nephew voting no.

I voted no because I am very concerned about how rapidly we are drawing down our fund reserves. The budget calls for deficit spending of over $360,000 for 2011. This $360,000 deficit spending is the best case scenario for 2011- this assumes that we stick to the budget. In 2010 we planned on $920,000 in deficit spending but staff overspent the budget by $697,690, leaving us $1.6 million down for 2010. President Hess refused to address the deficit spending and the budget overruns when Commissioners Kinzler, Nephew and I expressed our concerns.

We anticipate that the GEPD will have $2.6 million in fund reserves at the end of 2011. However, the reason we have a positive balance is because the previous board approved borrowing $4 million in bonds ten minutes before Commissioners Kinzler, Nephew and I were seated last May. Without borrowing those funds, we would be $1.4 million in debt. Taking out those bonds maxed out our legal debt limit and the GEPD cannot borrow more money until 2013 without a referendum. This leaves us a thin margin for emergencies.