Glen Ellyn park commissioners seek outside help to fix rift

Glen Ellyn Park District commissioners might not agree on what triggered a rift that turned this week's board meeting into a contentious and confrontational affair.

But at the very least, they say they're willing to consider a proposal from Commissioner Ed Hess to bring in an outside mediator to help the elected officials find some common ground.

Hess made the suggestion at the end of a meeting that was marked by more than an hour's worth of accusations and admonishments. At one point, even audience members traded verbal jabs.

Hess said a mediator might help the divided board "heal open wounds."

"We have a division on the board right now and it (the group) is not acting as one," he said. "I understand that not all the time do you have a consensus and that's fine. But in the past, they'd voice their opinion or disagreement and once the board voted, it was a majority and they would be on board. That doesn't seem to be happening anymore."

Hess said he thinks seeking mediation assistance from Illinois Association of Park Districts President Ted Flickinger might help.

Flickinger regularly counsels park districts, even those without the problems plaguing Glen Ellyn. He would distribute a questionnaire to board members to try to identify the root of the problems and personality issues and then follow that up with a visit to ask commissioners for self-evaluations.

Commissioner Jay Kinzler, one of three recently elected commissioners at odds with the four members of the old guard, said he would welcome mediation but doesn't have any wounds to heal.

"I think all of those guys are OK guys," he said. "They've always been cordial to me. But I'm not going to change my approach on the things they bring up if a mediator comes in."

Kinzler said he and the other two new members, Melissa Creech and Julia Nephew, have questioned financial information regarding the annual budget as well as the rising cost of the Ackerman Sports Complex, which has climbed to $11.2 million from the original $7.4 million estimate. Board President Sandy Minogue and commissioners Hess, Ron Aubrey and Bill Dallman were not up for re-election last year and were on the board when the project began.

Kinzler said such numbers change frequently with little notification to board members.

"There's just a little bit of cavalierness of throwing these numbers around," he said. "You're kind of like, 'This is somebody else's money.' I'm hoping we will kind of get other board members to take a more serious look at the numbers."

During Tuesday's meeting, Nephew read a statement saying she had lost faith in Executive Director Cory Atwel's ability to make tough decisions based, in part, on his approval of change orders that exceeded a board-imposed $20,000 limit without authorization.

Minogue then admonished Nephew.

Hess said the rift started when the three newcomers campaigned based on a mistrust of the then-board members and Atwell.

"There is nothing to justify any mistrust in anybody," he said. "I'm hoping (Flickinger) would be able to shed some light and give some ideas on how to mend this rift or break so we can move forward."