Roberta Borrino: 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: RoselleWebsite: http://to be advisedOffice sought: Roselle parksAge: 51Family: Married, two children.Occupation: MarketingEducation: Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, University of Illinois, Urbana, 1981Civic involvement: Lake Park High School Band Auxiliary Board Secretary; Siems Circle Home Owners Association Secretary; Roselle Garden Club member; St.Walter Youth Ministry, Parishfest, Relay for Life team captain, speaker; Village of Roselle ""Green Night"" Steering Committee, 2008 - 2010.Elected offices held: Roselle Park Board commissioner 2003 - present, President since 2008. FOIA officer.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: noCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 I have a eight years#146; worth of experience to leverage. The District has invested time and money in my education and understanding of parks and recreation as a business and the intricacies of municipal funding. We have hired a new Director in the last six months. He brings a wealth of experience in revenue generating facilities. The combination of my institutional knowledge and his expertise are a winning combination for the District to make significant strides over the next four years. While I believe in term limits, I feel this next 4 years will be my most productive.Key Issue 2 In light of financial constraints, the District has had to cross many bridges to get the point at which we have arrived -- that is to the point where a strategic plan can be created. I want to be a part of that planning process. My experience will only enhance the final product.Key Issue 3 The public needs to be part of the process. One of my challengers has attended Board meetings, the other has not. We have just one member of the community who sits in on our meetings regularly. Park board and school board members receive no remuneration for our service. We need to find ways to get the public engaged in shaping the future of the District.Questions Answers What programs aren#146;t paying for themselves? Would you keep, eliminate or change them? How and why?Our staff has been extremely proactive monitoring what programs generate revenue and which do not. They have been charged with producing a budget where we at least break even. Whether the fitness center makes money and the pool does not, is not the issue. The quality of life in Roselle as a result of the actions of the District is what counts.Is there any additional open space the park district needs to acquire? Please describe.While there exists no specific ""need"" to acquire new land, an overriding goal of a park district is to conserve open space. Roselle is virtually landlocked. We do have our eyes on certain pieces of property that are either contiguous to existing parks or that would offer greenspace in new areas for us. Cost is always a factor.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 do our best to listen to the community and respond to their needs. When a group of people come to the Board and request a need be met, we do our best to accomodate them. Depending on the request, some needs fall into our regular cost of doing business. Some, like the Scout Lodge, fall into our scope, but the end result would be better with outside assistance. We are excited with the prospect of this community based project's completion, tentatively April of 2011. The District is actively pursuing all sorts of creative financing, volunteer participation, and grant seeking.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?Roselle Park District is already working with the Village on various fronts, including the Emerald Ash Borer issue, mowing, chipper/shredding, and other public works related activities. Our Director meets with his peers on the Village, Library, School District levels on a regular basis. As a result we have various Intergovernmental agreements in effect. One of the sessions I am attending at this year's Illinois Association of Park District's annual convention deals specifically with this topic, so I hope to bring new insight back to the Board.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.We successfully passed the referendum for Kemmerling pool, after 4 failed attempts. We did this by listening to what the public did not like about previous proposals and tailoring our request to best suit the current needs of the community. Further, we now have a wonderful website, and should have online registration up and running in time for fall brochure registration. We have recently hired a Director, whose expertise in revenue generating facilities is already showing benefits to the District.