Park Board Sought Transparency With Rosewood

With the vote on the Rosewood Beach redesign a day away, Patch talks to residents, board commissioners and Mayor Nancy Rotering about how the proposal process unfolded and what it says about Highland Park politics.

On Thursday, the Park Board members will sit down in West Ridge Center and cast their up or down vote for the Rosewood Beach redesign proposal.  Rosewood Beach Redesign: The Story So Far The vote comes at the end of a yearlong process that has involved outreach meetings, online resources, FOIA requests and countless public comment from members of two community organizations. Want Highland Park news in your inbox every morning? Subscribe to Patch's newsletter. For Park Board President Scott Meyers, the participation and input from the community has been a welcome and deliberately sought after part of this process, beginning with the assembly of a Rosewood Beach Task Force to put the plan together. The small group of residents, led by Dave …

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David Greenberg

5:17 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012

I'm sorry Dan, you are correct in that THIS current proposal has been presented one time. However, the overall theme of wanting restrooms, concession stand, lifeguard station, and Beach House (or interpretative center) in one form or another at Rosewood Beach has been a recurring theme for what now, 15, 20 years? I think it's analogous to a small child asking a parent for a Butterfinger Bar in …   more ›

New Community Group Favors Rosewood Redesign

As the Park Board gears up to vote on the proposed Rosewood Beach project, two groups of residents continue to argue for and against it.

As the Park District Board of Commissioners inches closer to determining the fate of Rosewood Beach, residents continue to debate its proposed redesign. There are currently two community groups discussing whether or not the plan developed by the Rosewood Beach task force should be adopted by the Park Board. Ravinia Neighbors Association (RNA) opposes the plan because of the proposed interpretive center, a roughly 1900-square foot multi-purpose building that would cost between $579,000 to $630,000 to build, while the newly formed Friends of Rosewood (FOR) favors it. Want Highland Park news in your inbox every morning? Subscribe to Patch's newsletter. "[RNA] keep trying to speak for the entire town of Highland Park and we thought that was …

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David Greenberg

5:59 pm on Friday, July 20, 2012

Dan, I never compared the size of the proposed IC to a single family home situated on a small lot. I said that the IC's size was larger than many homes in Highland Park - I never referred to the size of the lot the home was situated on because the whole idea behind the comparison was as a point of reference for the kind reader. I don't agree that it's a stretch to believe that a structure with a …   more ›

Fink Park May Become City's Second Dog Park

Park Board to seek variance from county to install required amenities.

After years of searching and a prompt by the Department of Justice, the south end of Larry Fink Memorial Fink Park has become the leading candidate to be turned into Highland Park's second dog park.  The Board of Commissioners of the Park District of Highland Park unanimously approved a $9,640 engineering study at its meeting last Thursday to help determine if the Park District can obtain the variance it needs from the county to proceed at the Fink location.  Dog owners have long been able to take their pets to the Moraine Beach in northern Highland Park. A group has also been working with the Park District to find an additional location large enough for the necessary fences for a dog park. While they were searching, a Highland Park …

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Meyers Elected Park Board President

Members vote in Kaplan as vice president; staff rescues Park Avenue boat beach.

Scott Meyers was unanimously elected president of the board of commissioners for the Park District of Highland Park by his fellow members at their annual meeting Thursday night at West Ridge Center.  Newly minted Commissioner Brian Kaplan was chosen vice president to replace Meyers. The former board leader, Elaine Waxman, declined a nomination for another term as president.  At its regularly scheduled meeting before the annual gathering, the board passed its annual budget. Executive director Liza McElroy also reported on successful efforts to repair damage to the Park Avenue boat beach resulting from the week’s torrential rain. The work was done to insure opening as scheduled on Saturday. Gavel handed to Meyers When the annual meeting …

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Park Board Swears In New Commissioners

Two new members mark new start Thursday.

Lori Flores Weisskopf walked into the Park District of Highland Park board meeting Thursday night and accidentally sat down in the audience before she remembered that she now had a seat on the board. “The running joke is that I’ve always come to meetings anyway, now I just have a nicer chair,” Weisskopf said. Weisskopf, Brian Kaplan and Scott Meyers were sworn in as Park Board Commissioners at Thursday's meeting. They're the first members to be elected to the board since it came under fire last summer for approving contracts that spiked the pensions of some of its employees. The scandal led to the resignations of three board members, including former board president Lorry Werhane, who ran again and lost in the April 5 election. “This is …

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forest barbieri

10:39 pm on Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Congratulations to Lori, (the top vote recipient), Brian & Scott. We look forward to a transparent, active board that will enrich the community. Many challenges and opportunities are ahead and I am confident that we have great people that are up to the job.   more ›

Park District Continues to Cleanse Image

Staff proposes a slimmer budget with a $2 million surplus as transparency is the mantra of board.

In continuing efforts to improve its image, the Board of Park Commissioners for the Park District of Highland Park got a look at its budget for the next fiscal year, changed auditors and tightened its check signing policy last week.   Executive Director Liza McElory and her staff presented a nearly $18 million budget at Thursday's meeting. The staff shaved more than $1.5 million from last year’s spending and have built a surplus of nearly $2 million into the current proposal.  The proposed budget is available for public review both at the Park District offices at the West Ridge Center and the Highland Park Public Library.  “We want as many people as possible to have a chance to see it,” McElory said about accessing the budget, which will …

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Highlands and Ravines

Finally, the Yard Signs Come Down

Ed Brill reflects on what the newly elected officials will bring in tackling issues in Highland Park.

It's time to take down the yard signs. At last. Congratulations to mayor-elect Nancy Rotering, councilmen-elect Paul Frank, David Naftzger and Tony Blumberg; Park District commissioners-elect Lori Flores Weisskopf, Brian Kaplan and Scott Meyers; new members of School District 112 and 113 boards; and to those that opposed the District 113 referendum. Your wins in Tuesday's election were hard-earned and demonstrate the best of democracy in action. As I said yesterday, I've found myself more invested in this race than any previous hometown election. I found many kindred spirits in the forums and coffees, people who wanted a better Highland Park. It was certainly a tough set of races, and now is the time for the winners to prove that they were…

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David Greenberg

1:33 pm on Thursday, April 7, 2011

Richard, a lot of people perceived it as being dishonest. That card send by CARE came out near the end of the "election season" well after the issue of taxes continuing for another 20 years came up, and there was still nothing on that card about the taxes continuing for another 20 years - just the "without a tax rate increase" tag line. Regardless of any actual intent, the perception was that of …   more ›

Candidates Describe Visions for Park District

Three of the seven candidates for park board list their priorities for the park district.

Park district ripe with potential Last spring, while I was out walking with my son, he noticed some litter on the ground. He looked at me unhappily and said, “Dad, this is terrible. Someone should do something about this.” Sensing that this was a “parenting moment,” I responded, “Evan, when you see a problem that you can solve, don’t wait for someone else to do it. Take the initiative and do it yourself.” The next thing I knew, I was following my son with a wagon through our neighborhood collecting and sorting refuse. Later that summer, the pension scandal broke, and my family was sitting around the kitchen table when I said, “This is terrible. Someone should do something about this.” Evan looked at me, and with a wry smile, repeated back …

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forest barbieri

11:23 am on Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Nice to see some candidates finally addressing some of the issues, albeit 1 week before the election:). I have been attending the Park Board Meetings as well as different advisory meetings such as Hidden Creek, Waterfront, Golf, Rec Center et al since early December 2010. That is about the time the last interim Park Commissioner was appointed. It has allowed me a real insight as to the community …   more ›

Park District Candidate Q&A: Scott Meyers

A 2010 appointee to the board, he discusses his motivation for wanting to return for a six-year term.

Background :  I am currently serving as a park board commissioner, having been appointed in November 2010 after the resignation of three elected commissioners due to the pension issues. I have a finance and economics degree (cum laude) from the Wharton School of Business, and a law degree (cum laude) from Georgetown University Law Center, where I was awarded a John M. Olin Law and Economics Fellowship. I have been a practicing attorney for 20 years in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, and have been named to Best Lawyers in America, Leading Lawyers, and Illinois Super Lawyers. I have managed multimillion dollar law firms and legal departments, and have advised numerous public and private companies in complex business and …

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