'Most important' isn't 'most needed'

The Naperville Park District, by virtue of its own resident survey, identified the top five most important facilities to residents:

Trails; small neighborhood parks; children's playgrounds; outdoor swimming; large community parks.

Similarly, the top five facilities for residents identified as most needed are:

Walking and biking trails; indoor swimming pools and leisure pools; indoor fitness and exercise facility; nature trails and a nature center; performing and cultural art facilities.

The only facilities common to both groups are walking and biking trails and nature trails. This is where our tax dollars should be spent.

The other supposedly needed facilities - indoor pools, indoor fitness and exercise, performing and cultural arts - may be needed but are apparently of minimal importance, and if they are of minimal importance how needed could they really be?

Just because the park district does not have a particular facility doesn't necessarily mean it is needed.

An argument could be made that since we have no jai-alai courts, no equestrian center, no 10-meter diving platforms, and no eight-man rowing venue, that they are needed, but I don't think any residents would find those facilities important.

The park district could have gained much more valuable data if it had structured the survey to allow for weighted responses. This would have removed the blurry line between most important and most needed.

Another insight that can be gained from the survey results is that all of the most important facilities to residents are outdoor facilities. Two of the top five most needed facilities are outdoor facilities.

I believe the sentiment of Naperville residents is to use park funds for acquisition and maintenance of open space and activities requiring open space rather than putting up buildings or worse, selling off open space for money to put up buildings.

Finally, according to the Daily Herald, Ray McGury, the candidate for the park district executive director, said one of the issues he would like to address is the shortage of indoor program space.

Did he even look at the survey? Even a halfhearted attempt at faking sincerity in an interview would have included mentioning the concerns most important to the respondents of the survey.

If the first issue he comments on is the shortage of indoor program space, then I think he is out of touch with what the residents want from the park district. For this reason, I think it would be a mistake for the park district to hire him.

John Pizzo

Naperville