Michael A. Vogl: 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: BloomingdaleWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Bloomingdale parksAge: 58Family: Married, two childrenOccupation: Information TechnologyEducation: Bachelor of Science in Biology, Bradley University, 1974Civic involvement: Bloomingdale Park Districtformerly Bloomingdale Baseball and Softball AssociationElected offices held: Commissioner, Bloomingdale Park District, 1998-presentHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: No.Candidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Increase programming for ""active adults"". A recent community survey indicated that the residents want this. Historically, the focus of park district programming has been on children. While that focus should continue, we need to increase the focus on activities for our adult population.Key Issue 2 Increase awareness, among our constituents, that the park district is an essential component of our community. We are all aware of the obesity epidemic in this country, especially child obesity. The park district, and its partners in our youth sports organizations, provides active programs such as soccer, basketball, baseball/softball, football/cheerleading, swimming, gymnastics, and dance, to name a few. Without these programs, the child obesity problem would certainly be even worse.Key Issue 3 Increase the focus of the district on ""maintaining what we have"". While the Bloomingdale Park District has limited resources (its tax rate is the second lowest of all park districts in the area), the district needs to do a better job of properly maintaining our parks and recreation facilities.Questions Answers What programs aren#146;t paying for themselves? Would you keep, eliminate or change them? How and why?The park district staff continually evaluates all of the programs, and eliminates those that aren't paying for themselves. There are programs that are free and available to all residents, such as our ""concerts in the park"" program at Old Town Park in the summer. While the program does not pay for itself, it is very popular and well-attended.Is there any additional open space the park district needs to acquire? Please describe.There isn't enough money in the park district budget to acquire any additional open space.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?According to a recent community survey, the residents would like to see a fitness center in the district. All other nearby districts have a fitness center. However, the current budget does not have money to acquire a facility, or to acquire land and build a facility. There is not enough space in the Johnston Recreation Center for such a facility.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 is always looking for ways to share resources. The new soccer fields and maintainance building at Springfield Park are built on land owned by the village. The district and Bloomingdale School District 13 co-built, co-own, and co-operate the new gymnasium at Westfield Middle School. And the district conducts basketball practices at most of the area grade school gyms. The district actively participates in the Bloomingdale Intergovernmental Group, which is a cooperative among the village, park district, library district, and the school districts that serve parts of Bloomingdale.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 commissioner, I supported the passage, in 2003, of the legislation that corrected an error in the tax cap and allowed the district to renovate the outdoor water park.I made a presentation to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources that resulted in a $400,000 grant to the district that allowed us to build the soccer fields and maintainance building at Springfield Park.I helped prepare the presentation to the IDNR that resulted in a $295,000 grant to the district that allowed us to renovate Lakeview Park.As legislative liaison for the park district board, I have helped to establish a close relationship with our state representative, state senator, and congressman.