Pa McDonough: 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: PalatineWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Salt Creek Park Board Age: 49Family: Married eight years, with two daughters ages 5 and 7.Occupation: Sr. IT Project ManagerEducation: Bachelors degree in Computer information Systems at Devry University and Project Manager Professional certification from 2009.Civic involvement: I have been a Salt Creek board commissioner Oct. of 2015.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 am running as a commissioner for Salt Creek Park district because I as a resident I want to ensure our tax dollars are are spent wisely on the proper programs and services. I also want to try to give back to the community I live in in a small way. Additionally I want to teach my young girls that if you want to shape things in our community then it important to participate the best that you can.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.At this point I think the park districts finances are in pretty good shape. As board members I think we need to continuously engage the park district staff to understand which programs are successful and which are not. For those programs that are not successful, as board members, we need to understand whether the staff plans to discontinue those programs or how they plan to retool them to make them successful.What programs aren't paying for themselves? Would you keep, eliminate or change them? How and why?In the year or so that I have been a commissioner I can't identify any specific programs that are not paying for themselves. I think the park district staff does a good job identifying any poor performing programs and either discontinues them or retools them to try to increase resident participation.Are there any unmet recreational needs? If yes, what are they and how would you propose paying for them?I currently can not identify any unmet recreational needs at this time.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 am a relatively new incumbent, having been on the board for less than a year I feel my role has been to learn more about the operations of Salt Creek and of the board. If elected for the six year term I feel that will provide me the opporunity to take on more of a leadership role.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I do not have any specific issues that I feel direct attention, but I feel as a commissioner it is important for us as board members to try to recognize what programs and services are providing the best for the residents of Salt Creek and to identify or question those that may not be.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Al Franken. He has a great sense of humor and is willing to work across the aisle.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Don't prejudge. Listen to both sides of an argument and learn about the subject in question before you make a decision.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would go and meet my wife earlier. We meet later in our lives and I would go back and meet her earlier.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?History was my favorite subject.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Don't spend it if you don't have it. Save your money and try to do more with less.