Michael Childress: Candidate Profile

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:BioKey IssuesQA Bio City: BloomingdaleWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Bloomingdale parksAge: 54Family: married2 daughers3 grandchildrenOccupation: Customer Service ManagerEducation: Bachelors of Science, University of Dubuque, 1994Masters in Human Resource Management, Keller Graduate School of Management 2008MBA, Keller Graduate School of Management, 2011Masters of Corporate Education Management and Public Administration, 2011Civic involvement: NAACPNational African American Association for Human Resource100 Black MenElected offices held: Democratic Prec. CommitteemanHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Funding for improvement of the park districtKey Issue 2 Keeping our parks nice without a cost to the tax payersKey Issue 3 Adult programs for the artsQuestions Answers What programs aren#146;t paying for themselves? Would you keep, eliminate or change them? How and why?I don't think we are doing a good job maintaining our park district facility.Is there any additional open space the park district needs to acquire? Please describe.n/aAre there any unmet recreational needs? If yes, what are they and how would you propose paying for them? Or, should they wait until the economy improves?I don't think we are doing a good job maintaining our park district facility. This could be financed through the sale of municiple bonds. We could advertise that these types of investments are general a very safe investment and would give us an infusion of cash for these projects.Would you support sharing/pooling resources (i.e. printing, vehicles) with other local governments (school districts, village, etc.)? If so, what areas would you consider combining or merging to save money or improve efficiency?I have not given this very much thought but it sounds like interesting concept. I would definitely be willing to listen to combining resources.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 a newcomer, I would like to service my community if a very positive manner. I think that as the children become teens, we need to focus of the activities that will enrich them and thus enriching the community. I also would like to focus on the arts for adults. We have a lot of talented individuals that would love a place to share it. What better way that thru park district activities.