After University Park voters approved the creation of a park district with a levy not to exceed $800,000 in its first year at the November election, Mayor Joseph Roudez said he will appoint the board.
Under Illinois law, park districts are typically governed by an elected board of five members, with candidates required to file nominating petitions and appear on the ballot alongside the referendum, according to the Illinois Association of Park Districts, a nonprofit research and education organization based in Springfield.
If the referendum passes, the five candidates who received the highest number of votes are board members, and convene to establish their term limits.
However, in the petition to put the referendum on the November ballot, Roudez included a provision that the proposed district will be governed by seven appointed members, chosen by the municipality’s chief executive officer with input from corporate authorities.
“I can set the board. I can set my park district commissioners as a voting body of seven,” Roudez said. “I’ll probably reduce it. If you don’t have anything to expand so you don’t want to start at the top. I’m sensible and I’m a strategic person.”
A spokesperson for the park district association said the group is unaware of any authority allowing municipal leaders to appoint members to govern a park district.
Roudez also said he has the authority to set salaries for the board, though according to the association members serve without compensation. Roudez also said the Village Board does not have to approve his appointments.
Theo Brooks, the most senior village trustee, said the board hasn’t been given direction on how the park district will be formed since the general election.
“To my understanding, no one really gave us direction on what truly would happen next, outside that the mayor would have the opportunity to, I guess, select board members until the next election,” Brooks said.
A park district is an independent governmental entity with greater autonomy in decision-making and the authority to levy taxes for the management of parks and recreational facilities, according to a guide created by the park district association. Such boards can issue bonds and allocate funds for land acquisition, facility development and recreation programs. Park board members also have the authority to set aside funds for repairs and improvements to existing facilities and levy additional taxes each year such purposes, in addition to those needed for general operations, the guide states.
The Nov. 5 ballot measure was approved 1,338 to 1,057, according to election data from Cook and Will counties. In 2022, the measure ended in a tie, causing the referendum to fail.
“This is a historic victory for the residents of University Park and an amazing opportunity to provide benefits and resources to support our seniors and youth through after-school programs, senior recreational and educational classes, as well as individuals with disabilities,” Roudez said.
The proposed referendum was not presented to the Village Board before reaching the November ballot. Roudez said it was more important to let voters decide and worked with two trustees, Janelle McFadden and Karen Lewis, to gather petition signatures.
Roudez said when he was a trustee, the village had a Parks and Recreation Department until it was dissolved by his predecessor, Vivian Covington, due to budget constraints. According to village code, the department’s primary role was to plan and coordinate recreational programs and manage the use of community facilities for these activities.
Since the department’s dissolution, Roudez said the responsibility for maintaining the village’s parks and recreational facilities has fallen to the Public Works staff.
“When this unfolds, I would say in about late Spring 2025, we’ll see a difference, and it’s going to help our Public Works Department because it’s going to alleviate some of the burden when you’re running on a shallow crew of doing all the parks and the lakes and things of that nature,” he said. “They can concentrate on focusing on the basic needs and the essentials for the community in our industrial park, which needs a lot of attention as it continues to grow.”
The village has five parks and public recreational amenities: Palmer Park, Craig Park, Pine Lake, Riegel Farms and the village’s 18-hole golf course. Roudez said he hopes to see these amenities expanded and built out once the park district is operating.
“We build up our parks. We make smart decisions,” he said. “I want to be able to initiate dog parks in the community. What community doesn’t have a dog park?”
The village’s former parks department operated out of Riegel Farm, which has undergone restoration in recent years following a $600,000 grant aimed at revitalizing the once-active site. Since the farm is no longer in use, the newly formed park district lacks a building for operations.
Roudez declined to comment on the matter.
“I want to wait, to sure that I’m not speaking out of turn and I don’t want to draw adversity at this time,” he said.
Roudez also said he cannot comment on whether any land will be transferred from the village to the park district during the transition.
smoilanen@chicagotribune.com
