Roger Schnorr: Candidate Profile

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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: AuroraWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Fox Valley Park board District 3 Age: 58Family: Resident of Aurora since 1985. Karen Schnorr (wife),Andrea, Shawn, and Cameron Shotts, (daughter, son in law, grandson).Scott Schnorr (son).Julia Schnorr (daughter).Occupation: SVP Commercial Banking- Old Second National BankEducation: Bachelor of Science.Business Administration.Illinois State University.Civic involvement: President of Faith Lutheran Church Council.Past Board Member of Aurora Chamber of Commerce.Past Naperville/Aurora YMCA Board Member.Past Oakhurst North HOA Board Member.Past member of Kiwanis, Jaycees, and Rotary.Past Samaritan Interfaith Counseling Center Board Member.Volunteer efforts with Hesed House, Loaves Fishes Community Services, Feed My Starving Children, and The Wood Family Foundation.Elected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers Why are you running for this office, whether for re-election or election the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you, and if so, what is it?I would like to volunteer my time in assisting with the governance of the FV Park District and its efforts to enrich our communities with fun, diverse and safe recreational activities. The parks and recreation programs have a positive impact on the residents that it serves. In addition to increased property values when within a well operated park district, quality of life is improved. People of all cultural backgrounds and ages enjoy the benefits of using park district properties. I would be proud to serve as a Commissioner of such a highly regarded park district as the FVPD.How do you assess the state of the district's finances? What, if any, changes do you propose to alter the district's financial picture, whether through cost reduction or revenue increases? Please be as specific as possible on where you would propose cutting or how you would propose increasing revenue.The FVPD is very well managed and operated. The District does a fine job of projecting revenues and expenditures conservatively and mitigates risk to ensure long term financial stability. Reserves are in place anticipating near term capital projects and future long term plans.One area of improvement would be to reduce the reliance on the tax payers which accounts for 60% of the gross revenues. Reducing this over time to 50% of gross revenue while increasing user fee and recreation income from 17% to 25%. This will be accomplished by increasing the usage of programs and memberships at the facilities versus raising the cost to the participant.What programs aren't paying for themselves? Would you keep, eliminate or change them? How and why?Making sure that the District is not duplicating services being provided by the school districts and HOAs is important. In District 3 as an example, SD #204 and a number of residential HOA's have strong, well operated aquatic programs. Working together as partners to make the most of the facilities is smart for the parties involved. For the programs that are not paying for themselves, it is important to determine what is needed to ramp up the participation/revenue to an acceptable level or to then consider eliminating the program.Are there any unmet recreational needs? If yes, what are they and how would you propose paying for them?The Three Pillars of the National Recreation and Park Association include Conservation, Social Equity, and Health Wellness. Social Equity, is a belief that every individual has a right to recreation. Roughly one-third of area residents are "recreationally underserved" due to poverty. The District works hard to make park resources available to them. The FVPD is especially proud of the cooperative programs with area schools in which the district provides weekend programming in schools that are opened to host these programs. Fox Valley Special Recreation Association will look to expand their partnership with local not for profit organizations to provide needed services to their participants. This will not be on the backs of the tax payers to support these programs, but paid by the participants. Creative use of our facilities by making them available for lease for additional income will be expanded.Creative use of corporate sponsorships is a non tax revenue source. This would include advertising opportunities that reflect the mission of parks and recreation.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 feel it would be a privilege to volunteer my time and skills with this group of leaders in the District. I recently concluded a volunteer effort serving on the board of directors of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce and was looking for another leadership position in the community. My employer, the Old Second National Bank encourages volunteerism in its communities by its employees.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Continuing to improve efficiencies of the operations of the Park District is crucial. The Executive Director and his staff, are working hard to increase memberships at competitive rates, and overall usage of the beautiful properties (165 parks, 48 miles of trails, and 26 lakes). Increased membership counts and usage of facilities resulting in rental revenues, will improve efficiencies of operations.A culture of achievement, striving for excellence in all areas of the park district is important for me as a candidate for Commissioner of the Fox Valley Park District.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.John McCain ranks high with me due to his honest, straight forward approach, respect as a government official, and his military service.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Family values of doing the right thing day in and day out is the way to live life.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Making the Cubs starting rotation during the Sandberg years...What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Math class was my favorite as there is an exact answer in working a problem. Math skills are important in my role as a banker.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Helping others in life is a way to help yourself. Work hard, take the high road in your actions, and enjoy life.