Still No Word On Vacant Park District Board Seat

Despite hopes to vote on a new commissioner at its Monday meeting, the Wilmette Park District will have to wait to fill its vacancy until September.

"We're still engaged in the process of evaluating candidates for the board vacancy," Commissioner Darrell Graham said.

Steve Wilson, executive director of the park district, said the board had whittled the initial 11 candidates down to four and had planned to interview them at a closed vacancy meeting before Monday's board meeting. However, only three could make it, so the vote had to be postponed.

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"They're making it as open a process as possible," Wilson said.

Board President Jim Brault said he was confident the process would be complete before the next meeting.

"We'll have the new commissioner seated by September's meeting," Brault said. 

The seat opened up after  because of increased travel requirements at his work.

The board used the rest of the meeting as an opportunity to review activity throughout the park district over the past month.

Commissioner James Crowley reported that some tennis courts in Centennial Park had flooded as a result of July's inclement weather. Workers also added about 450 gallons of freon to the skating rink.

Wilson announced that registration for Park District activities began Tuesday for residents and Aug. 16 for non-residents.

The board also heard from resident Patrick Duffy, who brought a petition with 440 signatures to save Elmwood Avenue Beach. Duffy was representing Wilmette Open Lands, a group dedicated to preserving the beach.

"Our base goal is to keep the land from being sold," Duffy said. He answered questions from the board about funding by suggesting fundraising groups and mobilizing community groups such as the Boy Scouts.

"We're very much in the exploratory stage, so we're looking for ideas," Brault said, explaining that the ownership rights of the property are murky because the title was established about 135 years ago.

Duffy thanked the board.

"Thank you very much for your time and consideration," Duffy told the board. "I know this is small potatoes, but to some of us it's very important."