Politics & Government

Meet the Lisle Park District Board Candidates: Thomas Hummel

Hummel is a new candidate for the park district board.

Editor's note: Candidate responses have been left unedited as they were sent in by the candidates.

 

Name
Thomas Hummel

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Age
36

Family
Single

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Occupation
Accountant.


How long have you lived in the district?
I’ve live in the district for the last 23 years (28 years total).  I graduated from Lisle Senior High School in 1993.


Why are you running for a board position?
The main reason I’m running for the Park District Board is to control unnecessary spending and lower taxes for residents while still providing the level of services residents have come to expect.  I’ve been to many meetings over the last year and have seen many opportunities to reduce spending. 

Recently, the board decided to hire a Naturalist.  I don’t believe the Park District needs this position as there are already plenty of nature programs available to residents.  The DuPage County Forest Preserve District has plenty of nature programs, there are non-profit organizations that offer educational opportunities, and we have Morton Arboretum in our own backyard.  All the Park District would be doing is offering programs that are already being provided by many others.

Another issue is The View (or The Restaurant formerly known as the View) Restaurant.  The government has no business being in the restaurant business.  The Park District should not have spent upwards of $100,000 on consultants and renovations to the restaurant.  Instead they should be trying to sell or lease the restaurant.

The board is sometimes a little slow in controlling costs.  For example, they waited until the economic crisis in 2009 to cut costs at Sea Lion Park and because of that SLP had a good year.  But, why did they wait until a bad economy to control cost. That should be done every year. 

Finally, the board talks about being fiscally conservative but I don’t consider voting, supporting, and advocating for a $21.9 Million referendum back in 2008, which would have raised property taxes by over 30% being fiscally conservative.  Expanding government and competing with the private sector is not fiscal conservatism.


Explain your involvement in other boards, organizations, activities,
if any (incumbents please state number of years you’ve served in your
current position):
Meadows Homeowners Association, participated in Lisle Park District focus group discussion in the spring of 2010, attended several Park District Board meetings over the last year, and a member of The Fraternal Order of Eagles (Aerie #2125 Berwyn).


What are the challenges facing the park district? What are the needs
of the residents?

Overall, I think the challenges are for the taxpayers and not the Park District itself.  These are challenging times for a lot of people and I want to help the best I can by lowering taxes for all residents as much as possible.

Challenges facing the Park District itself include deciding to purchase the Meadows Center property or not.  I would likely support purchasing the property from the School District as long as the price is reasonable.  Related to this, the Board just purchased a new building at 1925 Ohio St. (next to the Community Center) for $3.15 Million.  The renovations were originally budgeted at $1.5 million and now they are projected to be $2 million to $2.2 million, a 33% to 47% increase.  That’s unacceptable.  In my opinion, that building with renovations is a waste of $5.15 million to $5.35 million of taxpayer money.  Contrary to what the Park District represents, it was a tax increase to buy that building as well.  If bonds were not issued in 2010 to purchase the building there would have been a tax decrease.  At the bare minimum, they should have put it to a referendum - which I advocated for at many meetings - to see if the community wanted to issue $7.25 million of new debt or have a tax decrease. 

Finally, the other concern I have with purchasing this building is per the Park District’s press release which states “the opportunities to grow and expand are vast and can be accommodated one step at a time, when the community is ready, willing, and able to support them.  Acquiring this property will fulfill the park district’s immediate needs and provide for countless opportunities in the future.”  I am always concerned when I hear the government wants to “grow” – this simply means more spending and higher taxes.

I think the best solution would have been just keeping the status quo.  I understand the Meadows Center is aging and has limitations but between spending over $5 million on the new building (taking it off the tax rolls as well) and what it’s going to cost to purchase the Meadows Center property, I think for the time being we should have left things as is until a better option was available.  The purchase of 1925 Ohio St. was done too quickly and I think the taxpayers paid too much for the property.

 

What actions should the board look to take on these matters?
The Park District has to walk a fine line going forward.  The Park District already offers over 400 programs.  At some point, we need to stop growing and just concentrate on efficiency and quality.  We need to focus on the most popular and profitable programs.  If the Park District continues to grow we will find ourselves in the same spot as we supposedly are in now – the need for more indoor space.  If that happens and the Park District raises taxes to build a new facility, it will defeat the purpose of having profitable programs.  The idea of having profitable programs is to lessen the tax burden not increase it.


How do you react to petitions for subdivisions to leave the park district?
This is a tough one.  On one hand, I feel people should be able to do what they want and not be burden by government.  On the other hand, we need to take into account all of the residents of the district and how this will affect them i.e. property taxes.  I would like to sit down with these residents first and see if we could come up with some resolution that would keep them in the district. I will study and analyze all of the information as it is presented and make a decision at that time but I would probably lean towards letting them de-annex as the board can always control spending and not raise taxes for others.


How do you think the park district fits into Lisle’s community at large?

I think the Park District is a tremendous asset for the Lisle community.  It provides basically all the parks and open space for the community and many recreational opportunities.  It’s probably the unit of government that people use the most but we still need to do it in a very fiscal conservative manner.


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