Ever since I was appointed to the Park Board in January 2010, I have loved my work with the park district.
The quality parks we have are essential to our high quality of life, but during hard economic times even more so, when people are looking for fun activities that are close to home.
Making this announcement on my blog is somewhat fitting, since it was the park system that made me want to start blogging back in 2005. During that year Mary, my dad, and I visited every single Metro Parks facility–every playground, every beach, every ball field.
It was an inspiring trip and as some friends may recollect, I briefly considered running for a seat on the park board in 2005.
I'm happy I waited, however. Since then I have further developed my business management and non-profit leadership skills, two things that have served me well on the park board.
The board has done a lot of good work since I started there last year. I am particularly proud to have helped get more healthy lunches for the summer kids' programs, working collaboratively with partners like the Zoo Society on new revenue plans, and improving benefits for part time employees without adding additional expenses to the District.
All in all, it's been a great year and a half. I'm excited to run and have the opportunity to continue to serve the public as a park commissioner for another term.