Jane Hodgkinson: 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: 63Family: I'm married with two adult children. My husband Pat Cleary, is an attorney in Glen Ellyn. Our son John Cleary 26, lives in Lombard, and is in health insurance and Mike Cleary 25, lives in Wheaton and is an accessibility consultant.Occupation: Since I retired, I've worked as a consultant. My former position was Executive Director of the Western DuPage Special Recreation Association, a position I held for 30 years. I oversaw budget,long-range planning,partnerships,fund-raising and personnel.Education: Bachelor of Science (1971)and Masters of Science in Education (1974) from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Major was in Recreation for Special Populations. I had the great fortune to study with the man who created the Special Olympics program.Civic involvement: Illinois Special Olympics- founding board member and past chairman (1976-81); Wheaton League of Women Voters Board (2011-now); Carol Stream Rotary Club, Past President (2002-3, 2011-12); Wheaton Sensory Garden/Playground (2010-now); Western DuPage Special Recreation Association Foundation (1993-now); Carol Stream Chamber of Commerce Board (2009-11) West Chicago Parks Foundation Board (2010-now); Carol Stream Parks Foundation Board (2011-now); Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital Board (1991?); 100 Women Who Care member; Wheaton Sesqui-Centennial Commission(Finance Chair); Chair of the Friends of the Wheaton Park District Referendum Committee (2005); Parents Alliance Employment Project (1982-95) SCARCE Board (2013); Wheaton North boosters; Hawthorne School PTO; Sunnybrook Homeowners Condo Association (1982-84) Past PresidentElected offices held: President of the Illinois Park and Recreation Association 2004; President of the Carol Stream Rotary Club (2002-03) and (2011-12); Sunnybrook Homeowner's Condo Association (Wheaton condo association). Prior to my retirement, I felt it was a potential conflict of interest to run for a municipal office.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: noCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Preserving the open space and gymnasiums at Hubble Middle School. This project is an existing collaboration between a private developer and a government entity. The grocery store and gyms will be developed in this upcoming year. The benefits to Wheaton residents will be to establish a grocery store back into downtown, attract new shoppers to our downtown, increase our recreation programming options in a central location, and continue to provide flood control. In my opinion, this is public-private partnership at its best for Wheaton. The park board will serve a vital role in overseeing the planning for programs, lighting, and parking to maximize the benefits for us. I've worked with the Naperville, Glen Ellyn and Carol Stream Park Districts to develop facilities and plan their usage for Western Dupage Special Recreation Association and would like to share my talents in this project. With the recent Title IX directive to schools to provide sports opportunities for students with disabilities, the park district will be a valuable partner to C.U.S.D. 200 to plan and implement those directives and Hubble may be one of the programming areas to consider.Key Issue 2 Keeping the park district infrastructure and assets up to date with our limited financial resources. I have a background in fund-raising and planning with many community partners that will facilitate that process. I think one of my strengths is in my ability to forge partnerships and lead negotiations in these areas to share costs with others to help make services available and stretch our tax dollar.Key Issue 3 Involvement in the downtown Wheaton Plan. The City will be developing its downtown streetscape plan in 2013. Three Wheaton parks are included in that planning area, Memorial, Hubble, and Clocktower Commons. This downtown plan will affect the usage, traffic, and special events in and around these parks. It is vitally important that the park district work closely to develop these plans.Questions Answers What programs aren't paying for themselves? Would you keep, eliminate or change them? How and why?The park district has a policy regarding fees and charges where programs have to recoup their direct costs and a percentage of the administrative costs to offer a program. In almost every area the programs do recoup that amount. Cosley Zoo and the drop-in program of the senior leisure center do not. To remedy that situation the park district has already taken the steps of charging admission to the zoo for non-residents, hired a fund raiser to pursue more grants and donations, and increased other revenue producing programs. At the end of the first season of the non-resident charges, the fees had made a significant impact on program revenue. In another year, further determination will be needed. There are also programs that do not return a profit such as scholarships programs. This past year, 136 families used scholarship options. The moneys for these programs are raised through sponsorships and donations. At this time, as long as we can meet this need, I would not change the scholarship program because the the benefits for the family, and the investments made in children is more important. Consequently, before I would make any type of decision about what to do with programs that weren't paying for themselves, I believe I would have to see exactly what the circumstances were, how costly a program was, was it marketed correctly, would there be partners to assist, and most importantly, what benefit does it serve for our community.Is there any additional open space the park district needs to acquire? Please describe.The Wheaton Park District has done a good job of securing open space for the residents that have helped our community during floods, preserved our natural environment, raised our property values, and provided many wonderful recreational opportunities. The park district has also developed long term leases with the DuPage County Forest Preserve to use DCFP's land for recreational purposes of the park district. The WPD has also negotiated land use rights/or purchased land where parking is needed for youth football games and Cosley Zoo. There will probably be a need for more parking at Hubble. In general, the WPD should be vigilant in looking for 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?Recreation trends change over time, as well as the demographics of communities. We may have met many of the needs in the past but that may change in the future. The park district must always look at those trends and offer programs with fees that will support the programs. Two years ago, a coalition of people met to discuss the need for an inclusive sensory garden/ playground that would be universally accessible and would incorporate elements that would appeal to children with sensory issues such as autism. I have been working to raise the funds for such a free playground in south Wheaton over the next four years. Funds are being supplied by grants, corporate and private donations. As a swimmer, I believe we lack year round swimming venues except for private clubs and the colleges. This creates a void for year round swim lessons, fitness, therapy, exercise, swimming, particularly for those who cannot afford clubs. I don't think the park district should compete with private health clubs but if a partnership is possible, I would want to investigate our options. Otherwise, the cost to build and maintain would be beyond the park district's resources.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?I strongly support pooling resources. The park district is already a member of a state pool for insurance and risk management coverage, a pool for purchasing vehicles, and a different pool that purchases supplies and equipment. The park district also has agreements with CUSD 200 for sharing facility after hour use in return for lawn maintenance provided by the park district. The park district has also shared in the cost of exercise equipment at the high schools to facilitate the public's use of those facilities. The city and park district have an intergovernmental agreement to allow police protection in parks and co-sponsor Earth Day events for the community. The DuPage Forest Preserve leases land to the district for program usage. The land proposed for the sensory garden/playground is on forest preserve property. I would support purchasing with the city, library, forest preserve and school districts if we could identify products that are similar such as computers, phone services, utilities, for example.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 moved to Wheaton 32 years ago because I was so impressed with what the Wheaton Park District had and did with their resources. My children grew up in the programs and my husband and I use the parks, the pools, the fitness center, the golf course, take visitors to Cosley, walk in Lincoln Marsh, and visit the museum. It's a great park district that I hope to help with my 40 years experience and love of parks and recreation.