DuPage forest preserve director search poised to begin

Two months after the person they chose to lead the DuPage County Forest Preserve District declined to take the job, commissioners are preparing to begin another search for an executive director - without outside assistance.

Commissioners on Tuesday agreed that district employees will do the legwork necessary to find potential candidates for the position last held by Arnie Biondo.

"Let staff develop a criteria, maybe sort through all the applicants, narrow it down to maybe five or 10, and then bring it to us to take it further," Commissioner Al Murphy said.

Commissioner Mary Lou Wehrli suggested the district hire a professional service to help with the process, but no one else supported the idea.

"This is our one employee that we hire and is answerable to us," Commissioner Tim Whelan said. "So I'd like to see us somehow come up with a structure to do it internally."

Commissioners didn't find a long-term executive director the last time they used a search firm. On the other hand, they also didn't find a long-term executive director the last time they didn't use a search firm.

The district spent nearly $30,000 to do a nationwide search to replace Brent Manning, who retired in June 2012 after 8½ years at the helm.

After more than a year, commissioners selected Biondo, who was serving at the time as executive director of the Carol Stream Park District.

Biondo lasted less than eight months on the job before commissioners, who were unhappy with his performance, gave him the option of either taking early retirement or being fired.

Biondo chose the retirement option in August 2014 and is now working for a park district in Ohio.

At the time, officials said it was important to fill the post quickly and the commission voted three separate times, starting in mid-August, to hire John Lapinski, a DuPage Circuit Court administrator, to be executive director. But during that process Lapinski became ill and eventually turned down the job to concentrate on his health.

Forest preserve President Joseph Cantore said it's not a bad idea to hire a search firm again.

"I just think we tried it once," he said, "and there's no harm to try and get a little different way with doing it ourselves."

Commissioner Linda Painter said she doesn't believe a nationwide search is necessary.

"We have amazing talent right here in DuPage County that understands DuPage," Painter said. "Many of them probably grew up utilizing our forest preserves. They would have a vested interest in taking good care of our preserves."

Cantore has said the commission will be more involved in screening candidates for the executive director job than it was during the Biondo search. That should help the board find someone everyone is comfortable with.

On Tuesday, Cantore said commissioners might even want to recommend people they know in the community for the position.

"There's nothing wrong with somebody knowing somebody and saying, 'Hey, you know what? This person might be a really good fit,'" Cantore said. "If you know somebody really well and they're a really good fit, fantastic."

Cantore is longtime friends with Lapinski.

"The fact that you know somebody and you think they really would be the best fit for this chair up here is a good thing," Cantore said. "I think we need to look at every single avenue we can possibly look at."

The district's search for an executive director could begin as early as next week. First, officials are updating the job description and other details for the job posting.