Brian Byrne: 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: Arlington HeightsWebsite: https://www.facebook.com/ElectBrianByrne?ref=br_tfOffice sought: Arlington Heights Park Board Age: Candidate did not respond.Family: Candidate did not respond.Occupation: Interest Rate Futures/Options BrokerEducation: Bachelors of Science in Business from Depaul UniversityCivic involvement: -Volunteering annually at the Chicago Marathon -Lifeguard and Swim Instructor at Camelot PoolElected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers What programs aren't paying for themselves? Would you keep, eliminate or change them? How and why?In 2013 Arlington Lakes Golf Course lost $59,931 In 2013 Nickol Knoll Golf Course lost $62,902. In 2013 Lake Arlington lost $34,950. All three of these areas are a large part of the overall budget of the park district. We need to see a vast improvement in the return on the taxpayer's money. I would look into privatizing the golf courses and compare the pluses and minuses. For Lake Arlington I would invest more heavily in programs geared towards people who are in the 21-30 age group, as this age group is vastly underrepresented in the park district programs.Is there any additional open space the park district needs to acquire? Please describe.The Park District needs to add a dog park near the downtown community. There are many residents and families with dogs in condos and apartments throughout the downtown area. We need to provide them with easily accessible areas where they may enjoy their pets.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?We need to have more programming geared towards residents within the age 21-30 year old age bracket. Most patrons who use park district programming are young children and senior citizens.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 would support the sharing and pooling of resources if the process increased productivity and efficiency. We need to look at the return on investment for the taxpayers. Economies of scale and synthesis can lead to greater improvements in efficiency and can lead to reductions in costs for taxpayers. I would consider combining garbage pickup as well as regular maintenance services with other park districts and or villages.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.I was prompted to run because I know I have a different perspective than any of the current Arlington Heights Park District board members. I bring a fresh ideas to the table as well as a fresh review of the park district financial situation. In order for progress to be made leadership needs to be changing every so often. George Washington lead by example when he only ran for two termsWhat other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Important issues facing the community right now are a much needed dog park somewhere close to downtown. A large vacant lot is available right now on Arlington Heights road across form the Arlington Heights Park District Headquarters. The Park District also needs to encourage more young professionals such as myself to take a larger part in what the park district has to offer. Majority of residents who use the park district's services are ages 18 and younger and ages 55 and older. The park district needs to do a better job of reaching out to a target audience that is being ignored. We can capitalize on this age group by having more events and programs geared towards young professionals. We can grow the Park Districts bottom line while also strengthening our community. That is a win-win. We also need the expand the financial assistance rewards given to active military families to all veteran families. We need to show our veterans that we have not forgotten them. I would also like to research supplying senior citizens with free club rental so our elderly do not need to be hauling heavy golf clubs back and forth to the golf course. I would like to look into discounted admittance for resident senior citizens to use the community pool during the summer months. We can raise admission rates for non-residents to counteract any loss in revenues from the program.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Pope FrancisWhat's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?The biggest lesson I learned growing up is that family comes first. We should always try our best to be there when family needs us.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would spend my do-over on trying to spend more time with my grandparents and great-grandparents.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?My favorite subject in school was finance. It helped later in life because my career revolves around the ability to know economics and finance.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?I would tell my children to enjoy the small moments in life. Sometimes we overlook moments that, at the time, we believe have little meaning.