McGinn to join vets on Hoffman Estates park board

The Hoffman Estates Park District will have a new commissioner on the board as newcomer Patrick McGinn was elected Tuesday alongside three incumbents.

With 2,513 votes, McGinn was the top vote-getter in unofficial tallies among the five candidates seeking four seats on the board.

McGinn, a sales and distribution planning manager, said he wanted to give back to the community in a bigger way after coaching youth sports for 15 years. He said his experience as an accountant and his work in the sporting goods industry would be beneficial to the board.

Also winning Tuesday were Michael Bickham and Ron Evans, who were both appointed to the board in 2011, and fellow incumbent Kaz Mohan, a commissioner since 2003. Bickham had 2,435 votes, Evans had 2,431 and Mohan had 2,032.

Newcomer Junaid Afeef, an attorney who touted his “legal experience in legislation, public policy, government budgeting and open government laws,” lost with a total of 1,559 votes.

Bickham said one of his top priorities is promoting transparency, and he would like to continue reviewing programs experiencing declining enrollment. Evans said he wanted to focus on getting kids active and off electronics more often. He advocated an expansion of senior programming and continuation of joint efforts with other municipalities.

Mohan said during the campaign that staying fiscally responsible is a top priority.