Larry S. Reiner: Candidate Profile

Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioKey IssuesQA Bio City: Buffalo GroveWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Buffalo Grove parksAge: Candidate did not respond.Family: Larry has two wonderful brothers, their wives and families. They have six children between them who attended BG park programs schools. They also have six fantastic grand children. He also has cousins and his Uncle Irv living in Buffalo Grove.Occupation: LARRY has been the Executive Director of the Northeast DuPage Special Recreation Association (NEDSRA) for the last 33 years. He is highly regarded for leadership in creating recreation opportunities for children and adults with special needs.Education: B.A. Special Education - B. S. Physical Education (U of I)Masters Degree in Outdoor Education (NIU)Doctorate in Counseling, Health and Adult Education (NIU)Larry is a Certified Parks and Recreation Professional (CPRP)Civic involvement: Larry has served on many Committees and has contributed to the completion of many projects throughout the community over the last 24 years. He has been named Rotarian of the Year, in DuPage County and has received recognition on the State, Local and National level for his contributions and public service.Elected offices held: In April 2011, Larry will have served 24 years as a Buffalo Grove Park District Commissioner.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 I would like to continue to work well with the other Commissioners to reflect the needs of our community. I want to listen to what our residents want and need and then work with our professional staff to deliver these services in the most cost efficient manner possible.Key Issue 2 I would like to be proactive and keep an eye on our future needs. We need to be aware of our changing demographics and provide a culturally diverse array of programs and services. We are a very ecology aware Park District and we will contiue to provide services that are sensitive to our carbon imprint on the community.Key Issue 3 I would hope to work closer with the Village Board of Trustees to create some joint effort/method of building a Central Community Center that meets the needs of a wide variety of people and public agencies, reflecting age diversity as well as providing necessary resident services.Questions Answers What programs aren't paying for themselves? Would you keep, eliminate or change them? How and why?The Park District has a myriad of programs that reflect a mix of fees. We are dilegent about our fiscal management, and have earned the Goverment Finance Officers Association Award of Excellence for many years in a row. We have also earned the highest Bond rating of any Park District in the State of Illinois. We are an extremely cost concious district, but we do not do so without compassion and caring for our residents and their current financial concerns.Is there any additional open space the park district needs to acquire? Please describe.The Park District has develkoped a detailed Master Plan for the care and maintenance of our existing grounds and facilities. We would welcome more open space, as we currently use all of our active and passive parks to their capacity. We also want to work with the community to preserve open space whenever possible. In addition, as I stated above, there is, and has been, a need for a comprehensive Central Community Center for our Community. This could be a multi agency effort reflecting a cost effective manner of delivering this much needed facility.Are there any unmet recreational needs? If yes, what are they and how would you propose paying for them? Or, should they wait until the economy improves?We continue to seek input from our residents and then our professional staff propose new and diffenernt ways of meeting those needs. Our Senior Programs have changed and are going to continue to change, as our Baby Boomers express their needs. We have an incredibly strong administration and are able to meet most of the ongoing needs in a cost efficient manner. We have been very cost and tax concious and have been responsible to our residents for controlling costs. I like the direction the Park District has taken with regard to serving Veterans and I think there is room to continue this growth. We are going to have more disabled Veterans coming home in the next three years and we need to be prepared to honor them and serve them.Would you support sharing/pooling resources (i.e. printing, vehicles) with other local governments (school districts, village, etc.)? If so, what areas would you consider combining or merging to save money or improve efficiency?There can and should be more partnerships and joint efforts with the local governmental bodies. I do not support consolidation of our local entiites, as this trend tends to water down the focus of the job at hand and causes departments to compete for the same dollars, while in the end not realizing significant savings for the tax payer. Ususally, the Police and Fire needs succeed and the other quality of life issues are negatively affected. We lose the priority and the reposonsiveness to our community. The Park District is non political, as are some of the other local governmental agencies. We would not want to become embroiled in any of the issues that draw our attention and energy away from providing service.If you are a newcomer, what prompted you to run for the park board? If you're an incumbent, list your accomplishments or key initiatives in which you played a leadership role.It has been an honor and a privilege to serve on the Park District Board of Commissioners. While it is a volunteer position, we all take it seriously and are committed to doing the best job possible. We are fortunate to have one of the finest Professional Staffs of any Park Dsitrict in the State. I would like to thank the public for giving me this opportunity and I look forward to earnikng their respect. 1. Earning the State Distinguished Agency Award2. Becoming a National Gold Medal Award Finalist3. Purchasing and renovating the Alcott Center4. Redevelopment of Willow Stream Park5. Development of the Bike paths $2,500,000 in Grants6. Expansion Renovation of Raupp Museum7. Constructyion of Emmerich Park Maintenance Facility8. Complete Renovation of Emmerich Park 9. Developed accessible playgrounds and ball fields for people with disabilities10. Development of Busch Grove/Mike Rylko Community Park 11. Intergovernmental Agreements with school districts, the Villages, Arlington Heights Ppark District,and the County.12. Established the Hyman and Miriam Art Gallery13. Twin Creeks Buddy Baseball Field14. Developed the Spary and Play Facility15. Developed New Safety Town16. Established the Rusty Reiner Veterans memorial Fund for Active Duty Service Men and Women17. Developed and enhanced a new Veterans memorial at Veterans Park18. Inline Skate Rink and Shelter19. Indoor Golf and Sports Center20. Buffalo Grove Fitness Center21. Developed in line skate park22. Constructed two new lighted adult softball fields23. Receiveing over 5 million dollars in matching grant funds from the State for the development of our local parks and facilities over 24 years. 24. Too many more to remember...Thanks for the great opportunities!