Bob Carne

On the Record

What experiences do you have that make you a good candidate for office?

My career in Mktg/Sales has enabled me to provide input into the PK District Social Media strategy. My experience as a Treasurer in other organizations plus the Financial training I have received in my career have enabled me to make positive contributions to the long-term financial health of the PK District & in my current role as Treasurer. Additionally my Family have been involved in PK District programs since pre-school. We continue to be very active customers of the PK District. This participation of PK District programs & facilities enables me to provide input to the excellent Team we have. I am very active in the Community which has enabled me to provide an active inter-face between user groups such as TRI-CITY Football,Girls Softball & Boys Baseball. Also as a BD Member of STC Storm & my past involvement at STCE, involvement with the City of STC I believe I have a unique perspective of our long-term recreation & green space needs & how we can best work cooperatively with the City & D303. My history has always been to get involved in the community. Then understand the problem or need and come up with a creative solution by bringing people together & have fun along the way!

What are your top three priorities if elected?

1.Community Survey & participation to determine if Rec Ctr is #1 priority of Community & if YES--drive successful referendum with maximum voter participation. 2.Provide long-term finacial strategy that maintains quality of programs & facilities at best value to Tax Payers & Customers 3. Drive innovative programs & mktg that will raise customer satisfaction & drive attendance & membership while maintaining & enhancing the excellent reputation that the STC PK DIstrict currently has earned.

Would you support freezing your taxing district’s levy until housing prices rebound? Why or why not?

No. However I would continue to strive to minimize ANY Tax increase. In fact last year we reduced the tax burden & were recognized for doing so. In this weak housing market & with the national job market expected to remain weak STC needs to attract people to STC. This will drive housing prices higher. You attract people to STC by continuing to provide excellent services--the City does a great job of this. You provide an excellent school system--D303 is an excellent school system. Then you provide excellent Parks & recreational activities. The STC PK District is 2nd to nobody in the State of Ill! When people are surveyed about why they moved to STC the PK District is always at the top of the list. We need to redouble our efforts at marketing this great place we live in. We need to work collectively to drive the message that STC is a great place to live & raise a Family. This will raise home values. I believe the PK District-D303 & City of STC work well together but we can do more to promote STC! This will drive home prices higher. The Best Parks, Best Schools & Best City Srvices should be all of our Goals. Every decision we make should be made only after deciding \\\\\\\"does this make our City a better place to live in\\\\\\\". This will drive home prices higher.

What one decision by the park district board do you most disagree with and why?

It is not a decision it is more a philosophy. Specifically the use of the Fox River. I believe the Fox River in STC should be utilized more for sports & recreation(aka-Boating-Fishing & events). Currently our philosophy is to protect the shoreline along the Fox. It is an admirable Goal. We have all benefited by the fine stewardship of our natural resources by the PK District Boards past & current.

What was the biggest accomplishment of the board in the past year?

Provided the taxpayers with a small tax reduction. The KCC  highlighted this in an editorial.  This reduction is a sign of how the Board respects the taxpayers of STC & their money!    We focused on driving revenue from increasing memberships & offering new programing while reducing some Programs that were less popular.    This resulted in a very solid financial year for the Board & the residents!    I would also like to mention the opening of RiverBend Community Pk.  This was a direct result of work collaboratively with the State, County, Forest Preserve & the City.  We turned an ugly brownfield into a beautiful green Park!   

Why should voters elect you to office?

I will bring energy, passion & ideas to the Board as well as someone who is connected to the Community.   An example of this was the PK District’s very successful collection of surplus fresh produce collected from our Gardeners.  This was a direct result of a meeting I had with a few Gardeners (Gary and Sue Davis, and Edward Cabrielse)   We then took the idea of donating fresh produce grown by our Gardeners in our Community Garden Plots  to the Northern Illinois Food Bank.  Our great Staff(led by Pam Otto) took the idea and ran with it. How cool is that?   Another example is the East Side Sports Complex.  We worked with the STC Boys Baseball Organization(led By Paul Jones & his Board of Directors) to reach an agreement that will turf 3 fields.  What this has done is now take an already excellent facility & make it a Top3 in the State!  All at no cost to the tax payers of STC.   This will help bring Tournaments to our STC.   This will help our local economy & our taxpayers by bringing in OPM(other people’s money) to play in our facilities, eat in our restaurants’, stay in STC Hotels,etc…  Our Families will benefit by playing local & our kids will benefit from playing at first class facilities!  My background in Sales/ Marketing & IT enable me to provide input & direction into those areas for the PK District. Finally,  I will make every decision based on what is in the best interest of the taxpayers of STC & every decision is based on what brings excellence to the STC PK District!