Editor’s Note: This is one in a series of stories looking at contested races in the April 1 general election.
The race in the April 1 general election for the four-year at-large seat on the Fox Valley Park District board is between incumbent Joe Grisson III and Edward Ash, both from Aurora.
Ash, 44, said he has lived in Aurora for 42 years and that issues among voters relative to the park district include disbursement of funds, issues with the parkways and bike trails and the desire to see more progress and increase community engagement.
“The fund disbursement is an issue as people want to see more funds go towards schoolchildren and maybe a little less to things like golf courses or other projects like that,” Ash said. “People want to see more of the funds go to the community and to the kids and the schools to bring more understanding and engagement. Right now, they are spending a lot on golf and other projects rather than on other things.”
Ash said he has heard from constituents that there are “concerns about the speed limit of e-bikes on the trails.”
In terms of new projects, Ash said he is receiving feedback about projects “that have more to do with the actual atmosphere of the counties.”
“More projects for education and helping people understand different things about the park district including the native species and animals, and just educating people about the environment,” he said.
If elected, Ash said he would like to focus on “continuing to stay engaged with the community, continuing to be open with dialogue with the community and changes and problems we can solve, and try to bring a bigger community base to the Fox Valley Park District so it can be more of a staple in the community.”
“My main goal is to represent the people and make sure the community is taken care of because when the community is taken care of then we can start to build,” Ash said.
Grisson, 54, is seeking his second term on the board and said voters are concerned about safety on bike paths and the district offering more programs within its facilities.
“With the bike paths and e-bikes – some of them go too fast and there are also motorized bikes that shouldn’t be on there,” he said. “I’m somewhat of a cyclist myself and I know coming down hills you can exceed the speed limit. It’s been kind of a concern for some people.”
People are continuing to look for more programming, Grisson said, “in spite of the park district having a number of things.”
“I know there are a lot of programs out there but people are always looking for more,” he said. “We have some good ones but you can always add more, but I think people realize more programs means more money.”
If re-elected, Grisson said he would like to work on “resolving the bike path issue” as well as looking to expand the facility at the Cole Center at 101 W. Illinois Ave. in Aurora and “try see what kind of programs we can offer more than we have now.”
“Those are the key things for me. We want to expand the Cole Center and give our police and others a little more room than being on top of each other,” he said.
“We are always looking at some expansion bridges and are looking at a project on the East Side – building a bridge from one community to another,” he said. “We are also looking at a couple of islands and getting things cleaned up that people don’t think about, but are part of the park district.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
