Douglas F Postma: 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: PalatineWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Salt Creek Rural parksAge: 50Family: Married to Julie, three children Matt 24, Jillian 21 and Mark 18Occupation: Fire Department Battalion ChiefEducation: Associates in Fire Science College of Lake County (1999)Bacherlors in Fire Administration Southern Illinois University (2002)Masters of Strategic Leadership Mountain State University (2010)Civic involvement: Candidate did not respond.Elected offices held: Salt Creek Park District CommissionerHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NOCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 To help lead the park district through financially challenging times while continuing to provide excellent service to our residents and customers.Key Issue 2 Work to find new financial opportunities so the district can offer our services to the community at a fair value.Key Issue 3 Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers What programs aren#146;t paying for themselves? Would you keep, eliminate or change them? How and why?We have a few programs that are expenses for us intentionally to give back to the park district residents and patrons. Other programs that we try that do not genterate enough interest are cancelled. Most programs are designed to, at a minimum, break even and the staff is very prudent in canelling those that do not get the registration to accomplish the standard. Music on the deck and neighborhood park celebrationsIs there any additional open space the park district needs to acquire? Please describe.There are limited opportunities to acquire new spaces. We have a couple of spaces that we are unable to develop due to limited financial resources. A primary concern is to maintain and improve current facilities to maintain the customer experience at a high level. We have some ability to further utilize some of our facities and expand our service to the customer.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?There are many opinions on what additional services and opportunities the district could and should provide. I personally would like to see a fitness area developed at the Sports Center. Additional classes in sailing, kayaking and canoeing would be good as well. Developing the land on Salt Creek Lane into sports fields and an open space venue would be nice too.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?The district looks for every chance they can to pool everything from vehicles to events and purchasing. The district enjoys a good relationship with many of our neighbors and have taken advantage of their services and equipment.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.As an incumbant I believe our greatest achievement in my time on the board was to assemble the current team of staff members to provide our key leadership. The board interviewed and observed of our personnel we were able to identify our strengths and weakness and address many of them by selecting and mentoring our current director. She was able to recruit several excellent people to fill key positions of leadership in the district. The staff has defined themselves well and have brought great energy, knowledge and ability to their positions.