Mark Schobel: 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: WheatonWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Wheaton Park Board (4-year Terms)Age: 54Family: Married, two daughtersOccupation: Regional Vice President Business Development JSTN - Job Search Television NetworkEducation: BachelorsCivic involvement: Former Wheaton Rotarian (Served as Wheaton AM Club Rotary President 1992-93) Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital Former Splash Dash Fundraising Chairman and Board MemberElected offices held: Wheaton Park District Commissioner, 1989 to PresentHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Continuing our efforts in maintain fiscal responsibility in all manners of our operations within the Park District. Encouraging our staff to continue to seek alternative sources of revenue, through Grants, donations, revenue producing facilities and programs, etc.... Currently the taxpayers? contributions to the District represent approximately 41% of the District's budget. I would like us to make every effort to shrink that percentage further.Key Issue 2 Continuing our focus to improve margins within our major revenue producers in the District. Arrowhead (all operations), Parks Plus, Programming, etc....Key Issue 3 A greater emphasis on the District's equipment replacement and facilities replacement funds to make sure they are sufficiently funded for future years. We as a District cannot afford to allow these funds to be under funded. Just like with a household there has to be a reserve for unexpected repairs or facility enhancements.Questions Answers What programs aren't paying for themselves? Would you keep, eliminate or change them? How and why?All of our programs pay for their operating costs. We also try to make a small profit to offset for future repairs of equipment and facilities. When I first came on the board we had maybe three programs and facilities that were not producing sufficient funds to cover their operating costs. I personally sat down with the current Executive Director and asked to make the program operationally neutral or profitable. Within 2 years all of the programs were profitable.Is there any additional open space the park district needs to acquire? Please describe.At the present time Wheaton is pretty much land locked. Open space is very hard to come by at the moment. However, we continually seek partnerships to find additional open space and when it makes fiscal sense to pursue it we have been able to add additional acreage. Right now the only foreseeable way to truly expand our open space is to possibly partner with the DuPage Forest Preserve District to find additional opportunities.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?No, not really. Our staff continually monitors our constituents interests and tries to develop programs to meet the need. Again, we will add programs only if makes sense and can sustain itself through usage fees.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?If after doing our due diligence and it proves to made sense to partner with another agency of course I would. In past and in some instances we still do partner with School Dist 200 in sharing each of our facilities in order to have a more efficient use of our taxpayers funds.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.#NAME?