LINKS TO
ISSUES
1. Don't
Destroy the Existing Recreation Center Buildings
2. Retain
the Ban on Pesticides
3. Ask the
Taxpayers for a Tax-Increase Only as a Last Resort
4. Bring Fiscal Soundness
to the Park District
5. Consider Making the Park
District Again a Department Under the Village
6. Create a Dog Park for
Oak Park
7. Make the Environment a
Factor in Decision-Making
8. Reduce
Costs and Duplication of Services by a Commitment to
Intergovernmental Cooperation
9. Reduce Cultural
Segregation in Oak Park by Expansion and Creation of
Village-Wide Park District Programs
10.
Consider Election of Commissioners from Districts
11. Bring Sound Business Principles to Park District Management
12. Provide More Programs for Seniors
13. Honor
the Greats
I also want a dog park!
OTHER LES LINKS
Les'
13-Point Plan for Park District Cost Savings and Revenue
Generation
Les Golden
-- Life-Long Contribution to the Parks and Recreation
Centers
Les'
Personal Side -- Education, Professional Life, and
Community Service
Les
Golden's CARE Party board members ban pesticides in the
parks and recreation centers, April 19, 1991
How the
CARE Party cut park district costs while expanding
programs
Les' Political Philosophy
Les' Proven Leadership Skills
Articles and Columns about Les' Campaign
Letters to
the Editor in Support of Les Golden's Candidacy
Les Golden
Home Page
A LIFETIME IN
OAK PARK'S PARKS
AND RECREATION CENTERS
In
Lindberg Park, Cicero (r) joins the 10,000 dogs in Oak
Park who say,
"WOOF
... GRRRR ... RUFFFF... YIP...YAPP ... (GrrrrrrrRUFFF!)
YAP-YIPPY-YIPPP... GRRRR"
(translation)
"We Want a (Pesticide-Free) Doggie Park!"
Les With Former Oak Park
Park District Executive Director John Hedges at a Meeting
of the Oak Park Development Corporation.
Les and Bruce Golden leading the
band for the concert preceding Oak Park's GALA July 4th
fireworks celebration.
A program from the annual Oak Park playgrounds circus.
The Golden Twins' leading
the band for the Recreation Department's annual village
wide circus. Bud Corry (r) was, I believe, the head of the clown troupe!
Golden Twins Music Through the Decades in Oak Park Les Golden and His Orchestra
Les Golden
-- Life-Long Contribution to the Parks and Recreation
Centers
Les
"Scooter" Golden
Little League
All-Star
(avg. = .573 led all
Oak Park) With Manager Vince Dierkes
Play Les Golden's NAME GAME
Gremio
in
Oak Park Festival Theater's
2001 Production of
"The Taming of the Shrew"
The
Golden Twins in the Recreation Department's original
"Village Classics" Shakespeare Festival held in
Eugene Field Playground (scene from production of
Midsummer's Night Dream).
Les Golden -- Actor
Concerts
Under the Stars
in Scoville Park.
Golden Twins as
Trumpet Soloists.
Golden Twins Music Through the Decades in Oak Park Les Golden and His Orchestra
A Letter from Theresa Tedesso Greene CARE President, 1987-1989
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STATEMENT
OF ISSUES
1.
DON'T DESTROY THE EXISTING RECREATION CENTERS
I SUPPORT retaining the
existing recreation center buildings. Although usage
of some recreation centers is less than in previous
decades, this trend may reverse in the future. Razing
of the existing, architecturally significant
recreation centers would then require construction of
new centers on the same sites.
One of my political
guiding principles is that "political leadership
is the ability to foresee a problem and prevent it,
not to spend millions of taxpayer dollars in damage
control." Razing the existing strucutures (and
transporting that material to landfills), with the
possibility of constructing new centers at the same
site in the future shows a lack of foresight.
Les Golden's Political Philosophy
Return to Links
2.
RETAIN THE BAN ON PESTICIDE USE FOR WEED CONTROL
I SUPPORT a continued
ban on pesticides in the parks and recreation
centers. Since 1991, when Chris Comer and Barbara
Jepsen of the CARE party joined with the late Bud
Corry to ban pesticides in the parks and recreation
centers, dogs and wildlife have been safe from
poison-induced illness and death, teenage girl soccer
players have been safe from a future of having
children with birth defects, and little babies have
been safe from pesticide-induced digestive and growth
problems. Any suggestion to reverse the ban is not
acceptable.
I PROPOSE CREATING A PROGRAM FOR MANUAL
WEED CONTROL.
Les Golden's CARE Party bans pesticides in parks
Golden suggests weed-picking alternative
Return to Links
3.
A $13.6 MILLION TAX-INCREASE?
I SUPPORT finding
alternate means for the park district to reach fiscal
health. Of course, no one wants the park district to
become bankrupt. No one wants to have to lay off park
district employees. Unless those become imminent, I
will work to prevent a tax increase. From my family
having lived in Oak Park since 1948, I have what I
believe to be some good ideas on how to cut costs and
generate additional revenue for the park district
without lay offs. These will minimize the amount of
additional taxes required for park district
infrastructure improvement and solvency.
Les' 13-point plan for cost savings/new revenues
Adult soccer leagues should pay for resodding
Recent costly projects deserved more scrutiny
Return to Links
4. BRING SOUND FISCAL POLICY TO THE PARK
DISTRICT
I SUPPORT employing
modern mathematical methods in deciding how to best
allocate funds to secure the park district
infrastructure. The technique
that I have developed into a successful consulting business puts the responsibility of
setting priorities and minimizing projected costs on
the department heads. The funding requests are then
analyzed mathematically together, and funding is
granted to optimize the fulfillment of priorities. THERE IS NO NEED TO SPEND $50,000 OR MORE ON A CONSULTANT FOR THIS ANALYSIS. As a Commissioner, I would be happy to contribute my expertise.
OBS method effectively
allocates limited resources
CARE Party cut costs while
expanding programs
Bud Corry/CARE Party brings fiscal sanity in 1991
CARE Party lauded for reducing district
budget by 5%
Taxpayer leadership award to Les Cut-the-Taxes Golden
Dr. Les Golden, Ph.D, Adj.Professor of
Management Science
( Roosevelt University Graduate School of Business )
Return to Links
5.
CONSIDER AGAIN MAKING THE OAK PARK PARK DISTRICT A
DEPARTMENT OF THE VILLAGE OF OAK PARK
With the projected $13.6 million deficit,
the separation of the old Oak Park Recreation
Department into its own government entity, the Oak
Park Park District, must be reexamined for costs and
program benefits. This was the belief of Bud Corry,
expressed since at least 1990 to everyone who had an
interest in Oak Park. It is time to study whether the
move was sound.
Detailed
statement on this issue
Les' 13-Point plan for cost savings/new revenues
Return to Links
6.
OAK PARK NEEDS A DOG PARK
I SUPPORT a dog park for Oak Park. With about 7000-9000 dogs in
Oak Park, we need a dog park for canine exercise and
socialization. Dog parks are also useful for dog
owners to discuss issues such as the best vets,
available vets for emergency care, and vets who make
house calls. Currently, dogs can frolic in the early
morning hours in Lindberg Park with an unofficial,
tenuous agreement with the Oak Park Police. Those who
wish to exercise their dogs at other times either
face ticketing under the leash law, the dangerous and
broken-glass strewn forest preserve clearings, or need to spend the time and burn th gas necessary to
travel to Evanston beach, Belmont harbor, or out to Swift Road in DuPage County.
We love them both, but
the reality is that more families in Oak Park have
dogs than children. I SUPPORT BRINGING A DOG PARK TO
OAK PARK.
What happened when 'Leo' played in
Thatcher's Woods
Return to Links
7.
CONSIDER ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS IN ALL DECISION-MAKING
I SUPPORT directing the professional staff
to include considerations of the environment in all
decisions, on an equal footing with financing,
marketing, and staffing.. We are stewards of the
land. We don't own it.
Why Dr. Les Golden is Green
We can work together to help the
environment
Return to Links
8. REDUCE COSTS
AND DUPLICATION OF SERVICES BY INTERGOVERNMENTAL
COOPERATION
I SUPPORT a meaningful commitment to
intergovernmental cooperation. Oak Park has 6
governmental bodies (village, two schools districts,
library, park, township) and their cooperation is
minimum. The school districts, the village, and the
park district could cooperate on issues such as youth
services, snow plowing, security, forestry, and
landscaping. I would support a staff position being
created to ensure attention to such cost-saving,
efficient measures.
For example, the elementary school district could donate used books, software, and desks to the park district. A joint program for
plowing the sidewalks could be undertaken between the
village and the park district. Evening security in
the parks could be provided by the police rather than
ill-equipped park district personnel. Again, sod removed
from the parks could be used to repair adjacent school ground
turf.
Ways our governments can cooperate to reduce costs
Les' essay on Oak Park township/library cooperation
Les' essay -- it wouldn't cost that much to plow sidewalks
Les' discovers books in the Mann School dumpster
Return to Links
9. EXPAND
EXISTING AND CREATE NEW VILLAGE-WIDE PROGRAMS TO REDUCE
CULTURAL SEGREGATION IN OAK PARK
I SUPPORT utilizing the Park District as a
positive force for removing the cultural and
socio-economic barriers that exist in Oak Park. Having been involved in many areas of Oak Park life, I see the park district as more than an isolated unit of government.
Preparation and rehearsals for such activities as a children's circus,
all-village concert band, baseball school, track meet, and balloon flight
competition can bring the kids from all corners of the village together in joint activities, and change
the focus of the park district from a for-fee
institution. The costs are small, but bringing together the youth of Oak Park at an early age will provide the great benefit of promoting mutual understanding and respect.
Les Golden's life-long activities in the parks
The Recreation Department circus
Return to Links
10.
CONSIDER THE ELECTION OF COMMISSIONERS FROM DISTRICTS
I SUPPORT study of the
concept of electing park commissioners from districts
rather than at-large, or at least assign elected commissioners to pay special attention to the facilities in assigned districts. I believe that giving
commissioners responsibility for oversight of parks
and recreation centers in their district could have
avoided the continuing nightmare of Barrie Park
contamination, enlightened debate on the merits of
placing a lawn sprinkler system in Lindberg Park, and
the acrimony with a proposed skate park, among other
topics.
Return to Links
11.
BRING BUSINESS PRINCIPLES TO PARK DISTRICT MANAGEMENT
I SUPPORT adopting sound business principles to the management of the park district. For example, we should recognize that the park district has seven "divisions," and examine their cost effectiveness, extent of public use, and relevance to the park district mission individually. The "functional" responsibilities, such as marketing, finance, and accounting, should be performed separately for each division, as is standard corporate practice, not across division lines. (For example, automobile manufacturers have passenger car, light truck, and heavy truck divisions each with their own marketing strategy.) Accounting for depreciation of the recreation centers would have indicated years ago the state of their disrepair and the need for maintenance. As another example, the district should utilize modern techniques of fiscal health assessment by having annual reports with a complete balance sheet. If this practice had occurred in the past it would have indicated that the district was leading to the deep bankruptcy in which it currently finds itself.
Dr. Les Golden, Ph.D, Adj.Professor of
Management Science
( Roosevelt University Graduate School of Business )
Return to
Links
12.
PROVIDE MORE PROGRAMS FOR SENIORS
I SUPPORT more programs for seniors. First, the sale of the indoor pool at the Oak Park Hospital to the YMCA was a disaster for the seniors who use that facility for health-related exercise. The programs and supervisors remain the same, but the fees have doubled. I would examine a repurchase of that pool from the YMCA.
Second, I propose the placement of granite-base chess/checker boards in the parks near the senior residences for the use of all. Austin Gardens and Mills Park granite chess/checker boards would serve those in Holley Court and Mills Tower, respectively. Whatever is finally decided for Stevenson playground, chess/checker boards could be placed there for the residents of the nearby Oaks and Heritage House to both view the youngsters and to provide activity for them themselves. Several could be placed on the grounds of the pools. Of course, boards could also be placed under the shade in Lindberg (Greenfield) and Taylor Parks for the use of all residents. These would be placed so that people could watch the dogs scamper in the doggie park that I will be proposing if elected as park district commissioner.
Outdoor Granite Chess/Checker Boards for the Parks
Return to
Links
13.
DO THE RIGHT THING
I SUPPORT naming the Conservatory for Elsie
Jacobsen, its moving force, and Marge Haddix, who
insured its survival.
I SUPPORT naming
Ridgeland Commons after Bud Corry: "Corry
Commons."
I SUPPORT finding a suitable means to
honor the guiding lights/heroines of the Recreation
Department, Josephine Blackstock and Lily Ruth
Hanson.
Les' proposal to rename Ridgeland Commons after
Bud
Les' essay -- honor the Greats while they're still with us
Like what you've read? Send
email Les Golden to volunteer on his campaign
Les Golden Home Page
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