Time for the Park District to Do More

This year’s , like last year’s budget, cuts funding to Senior and Youth Services.  

I personally am saddened by this because I think the services that are provided are important to our community. The and both are important places of community in Highland Park. In an ideal world, the good work done by those places would be met not by an ever shrinking budget, but by one which would allow them to build upon there past successes into new and exciting programs.

Of course the world that we live in is less than ideal. , in his last budget, has to consider the broader economic context. This is a time where holding the line on expenditures, or looking for reductions, must be the top priority.  It is with this mindset that Manager Limardi has cut the areas of Youth and Senior Services.

But in an ideal world, the city wouldn't be the position were it is providing these human services. We have many other governmental, and for that matter non-governmental, bodies which are better equipped than the City of Highland Park to provide these services. The kinds of services provided by Youth and Senior services feels qualitatively different than the services provided by the rest of the City Departments.

It doesn't feel qualitatively different than the kinds of services provided by the Park District. A Park District which has not, even in the wake of the pension scandal, had the sort of tough discussions that the City Council has now had every year since the Great Recession started. This isn't to say that the Park District hasn't looked at its budget. They have thanks to the strong professional leadership by Park District Director Liza McElroy.  They just have not to the same extent or with the same expertise as the City, and to a lesser extent District 112.

So there's a mismatch here. The City is providing these services, but really can't afford to do so in the way that the citizens of Highland Park deserve and expect. The Park District isn't providing these services, but have expertise such that were they to provide the services they could likely do so better for the same budget costs to the taxpayers. We need to find a way to bridge this gap. This is something that the City Council and Mayor have repeatedly expressed a willingness and desire to do.

Now it is time for the Park District to become better partners with the city. Youth and Senior Services would be a great place for the Park District Board to be challenged to do more for the tax payers of Highland Park.