Want to be on the Naperville park board?

The Naperville Park District is accepting applications for residents interested in filling the vacancy on the park board.

The new commissioner would serve until April 2009, replacing Charlie Brown who resigned last month.

"We need to move," board President Suzanne Hart said. "We have things we need to vote on and right now it's six (commissioners)."

Upcoming issues before the board could include whether to build an indoor recreation center, purchasing land in the city that would be kept as open space and making improvements to existing parks.

The new commissioner will likely also be part of a new board development program, working with a consultant to ease the history of tension among board members.

Applicants must be park district residents for at least a year, registered voters and willing to take the park board's oath of office.

Those interested in applying must send a resume and a brief statement about why they are interested in the position and their background to Jacki Stern's attention at jstern@napervilleparks.org or 320 W. Jackson Ave., Naperville, IL 60540.

Resumes are due July 21. At the board's July 24 meeting, commissioners plan to review the resumes and choose the top candidates to interview.

Finalists will then be interviewed Aug. 14. Commissioners could vote on their new member that same night.

By law, the park board is allowed to conduct these interviews behind closed doors but Commissioner Andrew Schaffner said he would like to do them in public.

"My personal preference is that the candidates should stand at this podium here and explain to the residents why they want to represent them," he said.

No commissioners responded to his comment during the meeting but afterward, Hart said she would prefer closed session interviews.

"I would not want to put that through to force someone to have to go through that," she said. "They're nervous anyway."

For more information on applying for the board, visit www.napervilleparks.org.