John (Jay) Cozza: Candidate Profile

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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:BioQA Bio City: Rolling MeadowsWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Palatine Park Board Age: 57Family: My wife is Palatine born Laura Poyet Cozza I have three grown daughters Kelly, Kimberly and Jennifer.Occupation: First Vice President/Financial Advisor with Morgan StanleyEducation: Bachelors Degree in Finance from the University of Illinois Masters of Business in Investments and Banking from the University of IllinoisCivic involvement: Palatine Jaycees 1983-present/ President in 1990. Co-Chaired two 4th of July Festivals. Rolling Meadows Jaycees 1992-1997/ Founding President/4th of July Parade Chairman Elmhurst Rotary Club Palatine Mens Civic Club Holy Family Religious Education Long time Palatine Celtic Soccer coachElected offices held: Palatine Park District Commissioner 1991-presentQuestions Answers What programs aren't paying for themselves? Would you keep, eliminate or change them? How and why?Financially, I can certainly say that every passive recreation opportunity offered by the Palatine Park District provides no cash revenue back to the taxpayers. Bike paths, open land parks/playgrounds, tennis courts, basketball courts, pickle ball courts are 100% paid for by the citizens of the Palatine Park District. However, the benefit of these "passive" facilities to our home values far exceeds the cost so they must continue to be supported. Other facilities such as the pools, recreation centers, Cutting Hall for the Performing Arts, Palatine Hills Golf Course and the Palatine Stables return substantial revenue to the Palatine Park District in varying degrees. Every facility is evaluated by not only the cash revenue they generate but also for the degree of value they provide for the entire Park District. In reality, only the Palatine Stables has been able to generate positive cash flow over the years. Our facilities, however, are tax supported for their overall benefit to the community and our property value. Closing a facility is always difficult and I have done so in the past. A few years ago, I did support the closure of one of our smaller pools to avoid the almost $2.5 Million reconstruction cost to keep it open. Swimmers are now using one of our other 3 pools. The difficult decision to close the neighborhood pool was made. Any recreation class must reach a certain capacity or be cancelled.Is there any additional open space the park district needs to acquire? Please describe.In the recreation field, there seems to be an eternal need for more space. Every sport and user of our facilities will seemingly take up available time and space for both practices and games. This is an allocation challenge that I have faced for the 24 years I have been on the Park Board. Over the years, the Palatine Park District has bought and developed large tracts of land for outdoor recreation. Other fields have been developed to be more efficient and longer using with the addition of artificial turf and lights. Field scheduling software has also been implemented to make maximum use of the facilities we do have. Public partnership with the elementary schools and high schools has provided valuable space for swimming, basketball, wrestling and baseball. That being said, I must say the Park District has a need for continued use of a the indoor pools at the high schools and the Jr. College. Fremd and Palatine are improving their pools. As Harper evaluates a possible re-design of their Building M, the Park District should cooperate where possible. The genesis of lacrosse, rugby, fall baseball and additional usage by senior citizen teams is forcing the District to continually look for more space and be more efficient. An additional indoor turf field at Falcon Park and at least two additional artificial turf fields would make a lot of sense in the future. The Palatine Bike Trail system should also be developed further...very popular and heavily used.Are 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?Yes. There is a real need for more space for almost every one of the current affiliates and the developing sports of lacrosse, rugby and a newer sport for Palatine called Pickleball. Every community survey that has been conducted over the years has also showed a need for more indoor swimming pool space and time over the current times available to the Palatine Park District at the Fremd High School, Palatine High School and the Harper Jr College pools. The pool space issue has heightened as Harper College is considering long term redevelopment plans for their Recreation Building M which currently houses an indoor pool used by the Palatine Park District Swim Team. I intend to address these needs by urging better use of the facilities by developing more indoor and outside artificial fields and also add lights where appropriate. A few more athletic fields could be developed at Falcon Park and a large piece of land near the Palatine Stables. Financially, all of the above improvements would need to be spread out over perhaps a ten year period of time. The longer term planned development would allow the use of planned funds from increased registration fees, grants from the state, inter-governmental agreements and effective and careful use of bonds Capital improvements such as those listed above would only be slowed by a poor economy but must continue to be planned systematically and implemented to meet the needs.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?Absolutely. No other governmental agency in this area makes use of other governmental facilities than the Palatine Park District. Without Fremd, Palatine High School and Harper, the swim team would lack adequate indoor pool time. The Village and the Park District share land and building for the Combined Services Facility. The Park District owns only 5 indoor basketball court size courts. School District 15 provides the use of 13 additional courts in their schools in exchange for groundskeeping around their schools. Most of the Park Districts before and after school programs are operated at District 15 schools in a joint program with District 15. There are other substantial examples of sharing/pooling used by the District now but some substantial additions to this concept could and probably should include: *More sharing of resources and perhaps a merger of the Palatine Park District with the Salt Creek Park District and the Inverness Park District. All of these Park Districts are contiguous to each other and all are mostly within the same school district boundaries. This would be a big cost saver in the administrative area and efficient and increased use of all of our taxpayer owned facilities. *As Harper College (which is in the Palatine Park District borders) considers the re-development of their Recreation Building M, the two governmental agencies should consider all cooperative opportunities. *The high schools and the junior college could also cooperate and share the cost of more artificial turf fields and share their tennis courts more effectively.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.Candidate did not respond.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?This area is blessed with a very effective Palatine Park District. The Park District is chiefly tasked with providing the facilities for the recreational needs of our families. Financially, the Park District is in good shape. Just recently, almost every bond issue of the District was refinanced at the lowest interest rates ever available. That will save millions over the course of the next 12 years. Effective financial stewardship will remain at the top of my objectives. Any spending has to make sense when balanced against the mission. The Park District staff has excelled at producing at a high level. A professional staff of about 85 full time employees runs the $20,000,000 budget Palatine Park District with great efficiency. It is important to me that this continue and I will support future systems improvements, effective hiring practices, recognition programs, fair compensation programs and a great work environment. Continued and expanded use of volunteers to run our programs is absolutely essential to the future of the Palatine Park District. Volunteers are responsible for perhaps 80% of the real manpower hours spent in the interest of the Park District. Volunteers are so important to me that I have supported a staff recommendation for the creation of a "Volunteer Coordinator". The sky is the limit for the potential value of this new coordinator. Exciting.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany for her determined support of a united and strong Eurozone through thick and thin. A leader in difficult times!What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Family and community really matter! Also through various calamities I found myself part of, I was taught the value of COMMON SENSE!If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I'd stay in Boy Scouts and earn that Eagle Scout honor. I learned that one should go for opportunity when one can!What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?An investment/accounting class in high school taught me to take money matters seriously then and now.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Don't go through life thinking the glass is half full! Be positive and go for it. Negativity accomplishes nothing.