Incumbents rolling to victory in Naperville Park District

All three incumbents retained their seats on the Naperville Park District board Tuesday where they will be joined by two newcomers.

With all 119 precincts reporting, unofficial results showed incumbents Suzanne Hart and Gerry Heide and challengers Kirsten Young and Mike Reilly winning 4-year terms on the board. Incumbent Andrew Schaffner ran unopposed for the lone 2-year term.

Hart led the candidates with 7,444 votes followed by Young with 6,539, Reilly with 6,229 and Heide with 5,872.

They join a board that in the past has been notorious for its inability to get along and a district that has struggled to keep an executive director. The current board, however, is scheduled to vote Thursday on a contract extension for Executive Director Ray McGury, who took the helm in September 2008.

In the coming years board members will have to grapple with shortages of both indoor and outdoor recreation space.

Hart, the board's president, said commissioners have been moving in the right direction since she was elected in 2007 and once the new lineup of members is in place they can work on putting together a strategic plan.

Young, an attorney, is looking forward to setting new goals for the district.

"My first priority is helping the board reclaim the confidence of the people of Naperville in the park district commissioners," she said.

Reilly has been in the financial services industry for 35 years and is also a director with the Naperville Area Homeowners Confederation. He said his first mission is to look at long-term strategies and set priorities.

Heide was appointed to the board in August 2008 and is president of several small businesses. He believes the board has positive momentum and is gratified voters seem to feel the same.

His goal is "creating a unified vision on the board that can move forward and get things done, increasing our non-tax revenue and looking after our existing assets."

Eight names were on the ballot for 4-year terms including Jim Ensign, Richard Janor and John Polich. Tim Belgio also was on the ballot although he recently withdrew from the race.

Schaffner first was elected in 2007 and will serve another two years, filling the unexpired term of Charlie Brown who resigned in June 2008.