Marie Todd: Candidate Profile

Back to Naperville Park Board

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:BioQA Bio City: NapervilleWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Naperville Park Board Age: 63Family: daughterOccupation: RetiredEducation: BS Math - Illinois Benedictine MS Computer Science - PurdueCivic involvement: Naperville Park District Board of Commissioners Riverwalk Foundation - past member Riverwalk Commission - past commissioner IAPD/IPRA Distinguished Accreditation Committer memberElected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers What programs aren't paying for themselves? Would you keep, eliminate or change them? How and why?The mission of the park district is to provide recreation and park experiences that enrich the quality of life for our community. Given that, many programs don't "pay for themselves". It's also important to ensure that programs are affordable to the community. In order to provide some programs at an affordable price, the programs won't pay for themselves.... garden plots is an good example. Yet, the garden plot experience is one that our community desires.Is there any additional open space the park district needs to acquire? Please describe.The Master Plan guides the park district regarding the need for additional parkland and recreational amenities. There are a few areas of the city that are short of land or amenities and the park district continues to address these deficiencies when the opportunity arises. However, the Master Plan shows that the park district has addressed most community needs. The park district doesn't need to acquire parkland in general, but occasionally an opportunity arises and is evaluated on a case by case basis.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?Indoor space is lacking. We have a plan in place to begin to address this deficiency with the Fort Hill Activity Center. Now is a good time to construct the activity center. With the economy being what it is, contractors are looking for work and bids are coming in with favorable pricing.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?We've looked into this in the past...the nature of the work of our parks dept makes it difficult to share resources. But the park district continues to look at opportunities to partner with the schools and city. We have many cooperative gym spaces that are shared between park programs and school programs. Knoch Park is utilized by District 203 to provide practice athletic space. We should continue to look for opportunities.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 have helped to support a variety of projects over the past 10 years. To name a few, .... the South Maintenance Facility (allows the park district to better service the south parks area), the Seager Park Interpretive Center, Nike Park expansion, Centennial Beach house renovation, Sportsman's Park remediation, Knoch Knolls Nature Center, addition of artificial turf field to Commissioner's Park, renovations of the golf course clubhouses and patios, and the introduction of the Brooks Golf Training Center. Additionally there are numerous playground renovations each year, and this year we will be breaking ground for the new Fort Hill Activity Center.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?For Naperville to continue to be a national leader in parks and recreation.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Candidate did not respond.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?work togetherIf life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Don't need a do over!What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?math...problem solving is a skill you use through out life.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?do what you love to do...