William Rosenberg: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: William Rosenberg

City: Carol Stream

Office sought: Carol Stream Park District Board of Commissioners

Age: 59

Family: Married to my wife Kathy for 33 years. We have a son Andrew, 25 and a daughter Jenny, 15

Occupation: Recently retired from the Carol Stream Park District after working 10 years as the Director of Parks, Facilities and Production. Previously, I worked for the Village of South Holland Parks and Recreation Department for 43 years. I started as a Camp Counselor, moved to Park Maintenance, Park Foreman, Coordinator of Facilities and Events and Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation for my last 10 years.

Education: Bachelor of Arts, Public Administration Degree, Governors State University

Civic involvement: South Holland Little League Coach, Youth Sponsor, First Reformed Church of South Holland, Each One, Teach One - Program to help recently released inmates to read better, South Holland Lions Club, 10 years, Willow Creek Children's Ministry Volunteer, Wheaton Bible Church Awana Leader, Carol Stream Park District Basketball Coach

Previous elected offices held: Calvin Christian School Board, Chairman Building, Grounds and Transportation Committee, Calvin Christian School Education Committee

Incumbent? If yes, when were you first elected? I am not an incumbent on the Carol Stream Park District Board, but as the Director of Parks, Facility and Production with the Carol Stream Park District, I attended all board meetings.

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Issue questions

What are the most important issues facing your park district and how do you intend to address them?

There is NO direction for the future. In 2017, the updated Community Need Assessment Summary was nothing more than validating accomplishments under the Referendum Plan. Their Strategic plan was also updated. So far little has been accomplished. I will insist a report be given indicating which parts of the plan have been accomplished. There has been a large turnover in employees. Most full-time jobs are not advertised, and friends only seem to know of openings. I will reinstate exit interviews to be reviewed by the Board. All full-time jobs must be advertised in newspapers and Illinois Park and Recreation job board. Job descriptions will not be altered to reflect the qualification of the job seeker but reflect the needs of the district. Develop a process outside of the district where claims of employee abuse/harassment can be reported and investigated. Coral Cove Pool is approaching its useful life. Now is the time to survey the community to see whether to replace or remove. Board should approve anytime a professional consultant is hired. Many times, staff conceives a project, hires a professional to develop a plan only to have the board reject it after wasting thousands of taxpayers' dollars.

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 am a newcomer to the Board, but not to the Carol Stream Park District. I retired from the park district last March. I was the Director of Parks, Facilities, and Production for 10 years. My job consisted of maintaining and improving parks, buildings and supervising staff. I oversaw all referendum projects. I am very proud of the modernization and improvements to the equipment, buildings and parks. I am running for the board because I have enjoyed serving the residents of Carol Stream and I see this as a way to continue serving. With my experience and knowledge, I believe I will be a great asset to the board and the community.

Which programs aren't paying for themselves? Would you keep, eliminate or change them? How and why?

Few programs pay for themselves. Staff associated with the program needs to have part of their salaries covered by the programs. Profit margins are not based on actual cost to run the program, but what they feel they can charge for the program. Add in the 25%-35% of programs which are cancelled each season and you can see there is not much profit. Judging programs by the income they produce would reduce programs significantly. The mission of the park district is to provide programming for all ages and ability. Taxpayers of Carol Stream pay a lot of tax money supporting the parks and recreation district. It is important for the park district to provide programming, events and facilities of the highest quality, meeting the needs of our residents at the lowest possible cost. To maximize profit, more current staff should run programs and not contract out these services, use more volunteers but give them incentives to work, mini-golf pass or pool pass. Make staff aware of all these hidden costs and show them they are not making money as they have been told. All programs should be well run and decrease the cancellation of programs thus increasing the revenue stream.

Is there any additional open space the park district needs to acquire? Please describe.

Acquiring land needs to be very disciplined. Previous park boards would accept parcels of land with no play value; they were lakes, retention/detention areas, and wetlands. Developers were happy to give the land to the park district to take care of. Currently there is enough open space to meet our needs. If a piece of land were to become available, there needs to be stringent conditions to accept these parcels. By taking on new land, there is less time and employees to maintain existing park lands.

Are there any unmet recreational needs? If yes, what are they and how would you propose paying for them?

I have been working in the parks and recreation field for over 40 years and I have seen many recreational programs come and go. Being careful not to jump into fads is important and researching the program and their costs a must. Offering new programs is always exciting, having an exit strategy is key to not losing money.