Brian Charles: 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: St. CharlesWebsite: http://www.st-charlesparks.org/Park-Board/parkboard.aspTwitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: St. Charles Park Board Age: 49Family: Brian Charles is married to his wife of 25 years, Ann. They have two children, Jack and Emily.Occupation: Information Technology ConsultingEducation: Brian Charles holds BA, MS and MBA degrees. Additionally, he has completed advanced study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Feb 2017).Civic involvement: I am currently vice president of the St. Charles Park District Board of Commissioners. In this capacity, I have served on the St. Charles Arts Council and as the Park District's representative to the St. Charles Intergovernmental council as well as to the Illinois Association of Park Districts.Elected offices held: I am currently vice president of the St. Charles Park District Board of Commissioners. I was elected in 2013 and still hold this office through 2017.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 re-election because I want to continue to ensure that St. Charles maintains its stature as the preeminent town for families in the suburban Chicago area. Ã#130;circ;#160;In my role as Commissioner from 2013-2017, I have helped to benchmark our Park District against other park districts in the region. By way of soliciting inputs from residents, continuing to serve in my roles as Commissioner will help St. Charles residents to maintain the quality of life which we have enjoyed for many years.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.I came to the Park District Board of Commissioners in 2013 with the goal of ensuring close scrutiny over taxpayer dollars. For four years in my capacity as a Park District Commissioner, I have done that, carefully questioning our expenses, acquisitions and investments. Today, the Park District is in excellent financial health.While every capital expense pursued by the Park District receives careful Board scrutiny, I can say that we have meticulously eliminated overheads and created opportunities for revenue expansion through new-program offers doing my last four years on the Board of Commissioners. For example, the Park District assumed the operation of the Norris Recreation Center from CUSD303, eliminating the need to build a new recreation center at taxpayer cost. In an example of program expansion to serve residents' needs, the Park District created before-school child care with a to-school option for working parents in St. Charles. At once, this innovative program provided busy working families with an inexpensive option to allow those parents to go to work early in the morning while the Park District's Early Education staff members ensure that program participants are cared for before school. This program both served a community need and generates top-line revenue for the Park District.Under my continued stewardship, the St. Charles Park District will continue to search out efficiencies and areas for investment and profitable growth in 2017 and beyond.What programs aren't paying for themselves? Would you keep, eliminate or change them? How and why?The Park District has sufficient reserves that ensure our operating viability. We continue to plan for anticipated and unforeseen expenses while saving money in reserve for capital-intensive projects that are needed to meet residents' number one demand: that we take care of our parks and programs.Staff monitors the financial performance of all programs offered by the St. Charles Park District on a regular basis. The intent is to ensure that residents' recreational needs are being met while operating profitably. Any program that does not conform to these requirements is subject to elimination. As member of the Park District Board of Commissioners, I personally monitor programming viability in concert with Park District staff. Currently, all programs operate profitably. Any programs that staff determines are un-profitable and non-strategic are subject to elimination or replacement.Are there any unmet recreational needs? If yes, what are they and how would you propose paying for them?Indoor facility space is constantly in need in the St. Charles Park District. The Park District attempted to address this need, as called out by residents in 2014-15 by proposing a west-side recreation center built on land owned by the Park District that would allow for additional indoor recreation programming.Unfortunately, while resident interest in a new rec center to supplement indoor-space needs was high, resident interest in actually building the rec center was not high. Therefore, plans to build such a center are on-hold until such time as residents express a more cohesive opinion and agree to underwriting any such building through a bond offer. In the future, the Park District will likely have to pursue a capital-intensive project such as building a new rec center using a public-priorate partnership model where a third-party red-center operator or corporation underwrites the construction costs of building the center, and the district and the third-party agency shares revenue based on proceeds from daily fee usage and membership fees. Additionally, the Park District always pursues state-grant funding sources as it contemplates capital-intensive projects. Remediation of the Ferson Creek Fen including a new launch area is a recent example of how the St. Charles Park District pursued grant funding to improve one of our prominent riverfront parks.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.As an income bent, I list the following as my accomplishments during my current tenure on the St. Charles Park District Board of Commissioners:1) Taking over the Norris Recreation Center, programming it to Park District standards and publicizing those offers for all district residents and cooperating with CUSD303 to offer engineering and operational support as CUSD303, as owner of the facility, and the St. Charles Park District, as manager of the facility, work to remediate this 40-year old complex so that it remains relevant into 2017 and beyond;2) Achieving Audubon Society re-certification for Pottawatomie Golf Course. 3) Ensuring high levels of participation with other St. Charles agencies via the Intergovernmental Council and direct-staff interaction (e.g., City of St. Charles, St. Charles Public Library, St. Charles Assessor, St. Charles Township, CUSD303).4) I represented the St Charles Park District to the Illinois Association of Park Districts at annual board meetings and in member functions.5) I reviewed Park District finances and approved annual operating budgets. I also provided oversight to salary-administration issues.6) Ensuring that the tax levy garnered by the St. Charles Park District has remained low due to close monitoring of finances and bond revenues.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?My role as Park District Board Commissioner is to react to and plan for residents' needs. Often, these needs are orthogonal with residents' wants outstripping the Park District's ability to pay for those wants. Financial resources continue to be low, and residents -- myself included -- do not want to see property tax increases brought on by operational inefficiencies. At the same time, residents' expectations about the care of St. Charles Park District facilities and the programs offered by the Park District remain high. My role will be to continue to make balanced judgements in an attempt to represent all constituents while achieving a high quality of life through the Park District's excellent parks and programs.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Elon Musk. As one example, his personal commitment to transforming transportation through advanced technologies is changing industries.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?I learned that education would allow me to determine my future, help myself and help other people.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would spend my do-over on enjoying more of my time on this earth and seeing more of the world for education rather than business.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?World History was my favorite subject. Understanding different political systems in foreign countries helped me when I travelled and negotiated business in those countries.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Travel as far as you can. Study abroad. Think globally and apply your learnings locally. The world gets smaller every day.