Aaron Lee Kelly: 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: HampshireWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Hampshire parksAge: 32Family: Married 9 years to Melissa; no children; 1 dog Riley; 1 cat Azzy.Occupation: Web Developer at Intermatic Incorporated in Spring Grove Illinois. Also a eBiz Consultant for Bevill Edge.Education: Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Rockford College 2004Civic involvement: Hampshire Little League - President 2006-2009Little League Illinois District 13 - ADA Softball 2008-CurrentElected offices held: NoneHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 My number 1 campaign issue is fiscal responsibility for the Hampshire Township Park District.Key Issue 2 My number 2 campaign issue is open and honest communication of the current state of the Hampshire Township Park District, as well as increased communication to the constituents. This will be done through the web, Social Media, and eMarketing.Key Issue 3 My number 3 campaign issue is out of district costs, and possible expansion of the Hampshire Township Park District.Questions Answers What programs aren#146;t paying for themselves? Would you keep, eliminate or change them? How and why?The programs held at the Gary D Wright Gym are not paying for their portion of the loan that the Park District took out to expand the construction of that facility. As part of campaign promise, I will do a full evaluation of the finances, programs, and facilities to see where improvements can and will be made, along with expansion of programs to generate revenue to help cover costs.Is there any additional open space the park district needs to acquire? Please describe.Not at this time as the Park District is having a difficult time paying for the properties that they currently have. Before expansions can occur, there needs to be a reorganization of the business structure of the Park District.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?I am not sure at this time as I have not yet done a full evaluation. Also, the residents whom reside within the Hampshire Park District have not been asked to review the current programs as a whole and propose new ones. This will be one of the first activities that need to be done in order to ""right"" size the Park District.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?Yes, currently the Park District is in a dire financial situation and sharing, or pooling, resources may be a vital approach to help during these tough financial times. I cannot speak to whether or not this is currently happening; only after my evaluation will I be able to provide recommendations on this topic.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.I decided to run for the Park District Commissioner position after the last failed attempt to pass the tax increase. The problem I had is that all of the marketing materials spoke to these great plans for expansion, rather than the real need which was a financial reorganization. Bad business decisions have lead the Park District to the state it is now in and I want to work hard to improve this. The Hampshire Park District should be mentioned with pride in the community, and currently is not by many. This organization touches all of the youth of the community, and should be an organization others can look up to.Further, the lack of communication, other than semi-annual brochures mailed out, is unacceptable. With the ability to directly communicate through Social Media and the Web, there should never be any questions as to what the Hampshire Park District is currently doing or thinking.It is time to open the books, and the doors, to the Hampshire Park District and let the community truley know and understand the current situation. If things do not change, there could be dire results for the Park District.