Park Board Candidate Opposes New Community Center

There are four people running for the Northbrook Park District Board in the April 9 election. Residents will get to cast three votes. Bob Lozaro wants his supporters to cast only one.

"Your ballot will still be valid and you'll multiply your support for me" are the instructions on a Lozaro promotional card the independent Park Board candidate distributed at a public forum on Monday night. 

Michael Schyman, Paul Zima and Penelope Randel, the incumbent and caucus-backed candidates running for Park Board, were not among the 30 or so people at Lozaro's forum in the Northbrook Public Library auditorium.

"You'll see me around everywhere. You'll have my email. You'll have my phone number," Lozaro pledged to the audience, if he is elected. "I'm running because I believe I can represent the community."

The former Anetsberger land, the park district's spending habits and Northbrook Days were the biggest topics at Lozaro's forum.

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The Community Center

"My personal feeling is that we don't need a community center," Lozaro said of the Park District's proposed use for the former Anetsberger lot. "Do we really need to spend $35 million on a new community center?"

"I want to make sure our tax dollars are spent in a sound way," he added.

According to Lozaro, the village has enough facilities to accommodate all the needs a community center would offer.

"What can the community center provide us that we don't already have?" he said. 

A woman at the forum said she participated in last year's park district forums where Northbrook residents discussed ideas for a possible community center, and said the park district was "very responsive to people's needs."

"For a project that big, it's hard for me to believe it wouldn't go to a vote," she added.

But Lozaro expressed concern that a year after the sale the park board members still "don't know what they want."

"It's been a year, where do we stand? Where are we going? What are we going to do?" he said of the project.

Park District Budget

Lozaro discussed his concerns over the last few park district budgets, which sometimes ran a deficit of $1 to 2 million. The additional funds would come out of financial reserves the park district has built over time and currently remain around $7 million, according to Lozaro.

"I don't feel that's being fiscally responsible. That's not how I want my tax dollars spent," he said. "The village works on a balanced budget, I don't know why the park district does not."

A woman in the audience suggested future park district projects that cost more than $1 million be brought to a public vote.

A man in the audience mentioned the park district's $11 million bond debt and said the money paid for the $2 million Anetseberger land purchase could have been used to pay down almost 20 percent of the district's debt.

Northbrook Days

One of the last items on Lozaro's agenda was the Civic Foundation's annual Northbrook Days carnival and fundraiser at the Village Green. 

According to Lozaro, a member of the current Park Board suggested after the 2012 carnival to host the event elsewhere in future years — to keep alcohol out of the park and lower post-carnival Village Green cleanup and restoration costs. 

When asked if Northbrook Days should stay in the Village Green, practically everyone at Lozaro's forum raised their hand to vote yes.

Lozaro's Pledges

A forum member asked if Lozaro would pledge to hold public votes for park district spending decisions, but Lozaro called that pledge a "slippery slope... If every little expense went to a vote nothing would get done."

Another forum member asked if Lozaro would pledge to hold ongoing public discussions, if elected to the board.

"This is a great way to get feedback," Lozaro replied. "If the community would come out, I would host these forums every three or four months."

When a forum member asked if Lozaro would participate in a debate with the other Park Board candidates, Lozaro said he would. The audience was then asked who would like to see a debate between the park board candidates, and just about everyone raised their hand.