James "Alex" Durham: 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: Glen EllynWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Glen Ellyn Park Board Age: Candidate did not respond.Family: Married with 3 childrenOccupation: Finance - Investment BankingEducation: University of Wisconsin - MadisonB.S. Biochemistry and EconomicsUniversity of Chicago - Booth School of BusinessMBA concentrations in Finance, Economics and Managerial Organizational BehaviorCivic involvement: I have helped coach some of my children's sports teams and I'm active participant in several adult sports leagues as well.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 for Park District Commissioner because I would like to become even more involved in the community. Glen Ellyn is "The Village of Volunteers" and I would appreciate the opportunity to be one of those active volunteers. I have a sincere passion for sports, parks and recreation and also have an extensive background in finance, economics and planning/forecasting. Moreover, as a father of three young children who each use many of the services and activities provided by the Park District, I also have a keen interest in ensuring the continuing success of these programs in the long term. For these reasons, the Park District Commissioner's role seems like a natural fit for me to best leverage my motivations and abilities.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.From the recent Annual Reports and the meetings that I have attended already, it seems that the Park District's finances are generally healthy. The current board represented in both platforms that they have worked very hard on this front. The 2016 fiscal year surpluses and the AA+ rating on their recent bond refinancing seems to support that conclusion. As Park District Commissioner, I would like the access to dig deeper in to those numbers and continue that trend for the long run. It is very important to me that the Park District continues to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars contributed by community. If elected Commissioner, I would continue to focus on this goal, leveraging my finance background and training. If we are running annual surpluses as the Annual Report suggests, then hopefully we are in a good position to work on retiring some debt and smartly invest in projects, maintenance and activities that optimize happiness/utility levels for the greatest number of residents possible.What programs aren't paying for themselves? Would you keep, eliminate or change them? How and why?As Park District Commissioner, I would take a detailed look into what programs and activities are functioning as loss leaders and have low utilization rates and/or contribute unfair burdens to the budget relative to those that are highly participated in or that more fully pay for themselves in user fees. The Park District seems to offer quite a large number of activities in their annual activities guide and I'd like to better understand at what levels they decide whether or not a program is offered and at what cost per participant we cannot justify the cost. We should seek to identify opportunities to boost efficiency and utilization rates while still offering a robust and value added set of offerings, facilities and activities to the community.Are there any unmet recreational needs? If yes, what are they and how would you propose paying for them?The 2012 Community Attitudes and Interest survey is probably the best barometer of unmet recreational needs and I agree with many of the findings in that survey. It seems that overall the Park District is doing a pretty good job of meeting the community's needs but the survey did highlight what the taxpayers would like to spend their funds on each year. I would like to follow as much of that public prescription as possible. I would also like to work on enhancing the parks in the areas that the public suggested such as increasing trails and pathways within the Park District, maintaining and beautifying the parks, enhancing the large community parks and generally improving the green spaces in the Village. The Park District should also seek to be a good steward of the precious green space that the community shares and cherishes. These types of improvements can be less expensive and lead to greater public satisfaction than some of the large capital projects that seem to be the focus of late and which often come with costly continuing maintenance costs.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 wanted to become more involved in the community for a while now and the Park District seems like a great place to start. I have three active children who all currently participate in at least one of the activities and/or sport's leagues that the Park District offers. I myself am an active participant in several adult sports leagues (including platform tennis and basketball) and have helped coach my children's' teams in the past. I am also a former marathoner, triathlete and an active runner, cyclist, hiker, and nature lover. Our entire family enjoys the parks, activities and leagues that initially sold us on Glen Ellyn and I would welcome the opportunity to contribute to this valuable endeavor.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I think the current board has done a good job in bringing transparency and openness to the Park District and I would like to continue that effort. The financial reports, annual reports, meeting minutes, and RFP/bids are all available online, as they should be. I think it is important that any candidate running for this office continues to offer the same accountability and transparency to the community they serve. I also think it is vital that any commissioner in this role always makes best efforts to really hear from the community members at large (via meetings and/or emails) and pay close attention to items such as the community survey that provide statistically sound feedback and guidance for the future of the Park District and its central mission for the residents of Glen Ellyn.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Candidate did not respond.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Whether helping my father split wood and do chores or just playing soccer on a team, responsibility is the most important lesson learned.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would spend a semester abroad during college. It is one of my few regrets in life. I will encourage my kids to try it.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Economics. It has so many valuable constructs and tools to apply to complex and varying problems. It is really a beautiful subject and science.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Never give up. Life is full of delightful highs and difficult lows. If you never give up: time, effort and experience will guide you through