Plainfield Park district

[andy]

Well well its time for these "needy" group looking to shake down taxpayers by asking them to provide more money for special interest groups.. this while ignoring the rest of the district which Joliet, unincorporated areas of will county, and parts of cresthill.. getting shafted.. This after paying over a million dollars for a horse riding facility.. Of course they dont CARE about areas that have NOTHING... talk about taxation without representation.. Come on people take me on.. or are you scared???

[andy]

Now its offical.. the needy park district is going for a sports council referendem. the cost to taxpayers to accomodate a special interest group 8 million dollars. Of course, this does not include 2 other projects and maintence issues.. This plainfield atletic council, wants voters to pay for them to have fields so their members can play on them. Of course, no one has asked them were these members live. Of course, its within the park district area.. but were are the members from, surely, there are areas that dont have kids in their various programs, thou it is logical that mostly are from plainfield.. So why should areas vote yes if its to benefits plainfield residents.. Lets see what has plainfield has to offer.. dying downtown.. traffic jams, congestion, skyrocketing property taxes, village board that bicker and complain. I believe that any referendem should be only for the public good.. not to be just for special interest groups.. Look what happen with the horse riding facility.. special interest group wanted it.. and they have reorganized the operating procedures several times already.. because the "profits" were materilizing. That cost the tax payers over a million dollars. another white elephant.. Its not the taxpayers fault that the park district didnt plan correctly.. I am tired of rising taxes.. hell, they the park district doesnt care.. especailly in underserved areas.. those areas are not in plainfield..so why should they care.. More to come

[PLAINFIELD RESIDENT]

We need to clean house at the park District. I mean from top to bottom. The maint. supervisor and staff are worthless and lazy. Time for them to get a real job with real bosses.

[andy]

well can you expect... this park board is dominated with influences with the sports council members who think that the park district is there to serve them.. and that the taxpayers are there to pay for their needs.. To hell with others..
But then again.. the board has been in power so long they have allowed things to run down, and spend money on white elephant projects to cater to certain areas and to that to Barony of Plainfield who cant even get any industry to relieve taxpayers property tax burdens..

[Big T]

Hell yes..

[andy]

Just been brought to my attention.. that the park district board in a hope to please and make happy the sports council.. who has a lot of power on the board, rough shot over the new referendem requirement and is asking for a incorrect amount in the rate of increase. Instead of the correct amount.. they are asking for .05% increase.. that is equal to .0005. not .05.. LOL LOL.. that board cant do jr high math either.. lol. lol.. i am voting for the referendem.. have to reward them for stupidity..

[John Candy]

Andy, get a life man. First off, where did you learn to write? Before you make fun of the park district for not knowing their math you may want to do a spell check and read over your posts for errors before publishing them. Perhaps your lack of education could equate to a poorly paying job, thus making you so upset over a roughly $50 hike in taxes for the year! Boo hoo...$50! You should keep your mouth shut and your fingers off the keyboard because you really are putting yourself in a bad light. All respect for you and your opinions went out the window after reading your horribly written posts.

[andy]

Excuse me, where does it say in the park districts plea for an increase of $50? No where. So John even thou I have a policy of not correcting other posters...you will be the first. First, if you did your homework first, and took time to actually figure out the numbers, you would have found what the TRUE cost would be. It appears that you are misinformed and are like some people who will support tax increases without any care. But, as it has been pointed out, that the park district, doesn't care what anyone outside of Plainfield think. They only serve special interest groups, while spending money into white elephant projects. Again, with the constant urging, and complaining from the sports councils, that they don't have enough fields to play on, they expect the taxpayers, who, most live outside of Plainfield, to give $13 million(park districts estimation)(hee hee) of which $8 million is for fields for them to play on.. Excuse me, they are not entitied to be asking taxpayers for $$$. They are mostly not known outside of plainfield, they probably dont go into certain areas, they provide no revenue for the district, they have no RIGHT nor are they entitled to taxpayers money. We will see what happens in Nov. And in I believe in April 2007 is when the rate will be assigned, not by the board, but by the county clerk, is when we will see who is right. Its obvious you like attacking people and not the issue. Typical special interest groupie

[John Candy]

You want justification...go to the park district's site at http://www.plainfieldparkdistrict.com/ref-bal... and you will see how they broke out the costs by typical home values (note that these are assessed home values...which I'm sure a smart guy like yourself knows is less than the appraised value of your home).

For example, if your double-wide trailer in Joliet was appraised at $125k (because you upgraded the tires) it might mean that your assessed value would be less than that...putting you at a huge set-back of about $17 for the year! I guess you'll have to put those NASCAR jackets on lay-away.

So Andy, this is where the $50 came from...I was basing it off the park district's information. Typical disgruntled Joliet resident living within the Plainfield school and park district having to pay more to enjoy the nicer things we have here. Boo hoo.

[John Candy]

andy wrote:

They are mostly not known outside of plainfield, they probably dont go into certain areas, they provide no revenue for the district, they have no RIGHT nor are they entitled to taxpayers money.

Have no right to tax people living within the park district boundaries? Do you think the park district steals all of those voting ballots and handwrites the park district stuff on there?

The park district IS a taxing body and has every right to tax the taxpayers living within the boundaries set forth. We are all luck that we even have the option of having a say in these taxes, given that they must go to referendum. This is your chance to vote yes or no. But the park district, along with the school district and the library district and a number of others HAVE THE RIGHT to bring their wants to a referendum and potentially tax its residents more money to better the community and its residents.

I have been nothing but factual, Andy. It's you that's just spouting from the mouth and knows nothing about the situation. Did your kids not make the soccer team or something? Have a beef with an employee? Just hate life in general?

[Joliet coach]

Andy,

I do NOT live in Plainfield, but I do live in the Plainfield Park District. Both of my children have played for all three major volunteer sports groups - Baseall, Soccer and Football. And I have volunteered my time to coach for these organizations. It is a great experience for both children and their parents.

Why are you so bitter? Why are you so against athletics? You say that these people who live in the non-Plainfield areas of the district are taxed to build sports fields but their children are not allowed to play there. You couldn't be more wrong about that. As many children from those areas play in the PAC, PSA and PJC as from Plainfield proper. Thousands of children play baseball, softball, soccer and football - children of all shapes, sizes, backgrounds and abilities.

The referendum will also build fields for Adults. Right now the park district has one (1) field for its Adult softball program. The Ridge Road Complexe will feature five new fields for adult recreation.

But this referendum is about so much more than fields. It is about how to take care of them. The district is operating on a shoestring. Parks and facilities are falling into disrepair, overflowing garbage cans are cleaned out every other day, grass is mowed every 10th day - all because the operating budget and staff is stretched thin.

The district really needs this to pass, or things will get worse

And, really, your argument about the Horse Farm is getting old. Please come up with some new material.

JC

[andy]

I am not against athletics, but its a known fact that the Plainfield Park district has taken care of Plainfield proper all this time, hell with the rest of the district. If this park district would be more fiscally responsible, they wouldnt have spent $1 million on a horse farm. they could have used it for maintence and upgrades. Not to kiss up with local special interest groups, this district would not be asking for a hand out. These organizations, may be present in your area, consider yourself lucky. Its soo funny that they are supposed to be going around to promoting this referendem, or as it is called the sport council referemdem, along with the invisible citizens for parks group who all are hiding in the plainfield area afraid to venture outside of the areas that are "safe" areas for the referendem.(Results of the recent survey concluded that concentration in the NW section of the district will pass a referendem). Plus,from what i can find out, that the districts referendem committee was made up of mostly sports councils members, or with people who have had kids in the sports council programs; thus the high visibility and influence on the park district board. Therefore, I can see why they want taxpayers to pay for their fields, an another group with their hands out, they act like THEY DESERVE this.. I dont think so.. I still say, that if you live outside of plainfield too bad you dont get ementities, in the non-Plainfield areas of the district are taxed to build sports fields but recieve nothing. Since these organizations dont provide on their sites the break down on the areas of either the demographics of where the kids are from (sports councils), or the park district, therefore your arguement that the sport councils serves all areas are not valid.. or at least not valid at this time. I know who serves.. well make i know who DOESNT serve my area... therefore your statement is False.

Until next time...

[John Candy]

Remember the "Positively Plainfield" advertising campaign by several of the homebuilders in the area? It sure is good to live in Plainfield proper.

Maybe you should consider taking up your cause with the village of Plainfield to have Romeoville, Joliet, Aurora and Oswego annex those portions of the district that are not "positively Plainfield". Then you and all your "outsider" friends can quit complaining and use those towns resources.

Oh wait...you probably are thrilled to have your kids in Plainfield schools and have Plainfield police and fire - and not Joliet's! Be thankful for that Andy.

[andy]

whats wrong John, you dont like people who dont live in your fine town, whose main industry is homeowners, and is unable to get any kind of industry .. i dont mean getting a walmart as heavy industry.. well to you it might.. Are you upset that people who live outside of Plainfield object to having to pay for YOUR recreational wants and needs, while they get nothing.. thought so.. Lets face it Plainfield especially the park district has delusions of grander.. wanting everything that other park districts have.. Hell, they bought a horse riding facility.. for a million dollars.. which could have been used for better things, or even put facilities into other areas outside of plainfield.. DOH!! forgot.. its illegal to put facilities outside of plainfield.. that would be a luxury for us.. and We cant have that.. wouldnt look good if plainfield had to be nice and share.. oh no definity a no no.. And to counter the Positively Plainfield theme.. it may be true till you get the property tax bill..then its time to get out of plainfield.

[John Candy]

I'm not going to waste my time combating your points here...except for the tax bill comment.

Take a look at your tax bill, notice all of the things you are taxed on. Now look at the amount you are being taxed by the park district. It's probably one of the lowest figures on the bill. Are you fighting the school district, library district, fire and police, etc.?

We are never going to see eye to eye. Let's just agree to disagree. You've made your points, I've made mine. The difference...you have illustrated to every reader that you are uneducated about this subject.

John Candy is dead. Vote Yes!

[Steve]

If this referendum does not pass then how will the park district build new parks throughout the district. By voting NO that isnt going to help anything. If you vote Yes there is at least a possibillity that new parks will be added throughout the district. And yes the park district would like to have the ammenties that other disrticts have. Who wouldnt?? That just mean more variety and flexibility in programs the park district can offer. That would benefit everyone in the district even the one who do not live in the city of plainfield.

[Bob C]

I check topix all the time and just noticed this forum section, but I stumbled upon it by accident. I live in Plainfield and feel that the referendum should pass because we need to keep parks and recreation a staple of the community. Not just for the current residents, but for future ones too.
I did notice that a focus group has built a forum website of their own at www.citizensforparks.com Why doesn't everyone post their concerns there? I'm sure that the focus group, residents AND park district look to this for feedback vs. digging through topix.net . I think everyone has a point to share, right or wrong, but at least post it where it is visible!

[andy]

excuse me.. but this forum is more available.. mostly the people who have posted singing the praise of the sport council referendem are board members.. and sports councils members who want fields for the sport council, a non for profit organization. They have not reach into all of the district, they hide in safe areas that were recommended by members of the referendem committee, who most are sport council members, or parents who have kids in these councils.. conflict of interest. Its a known fact, since sounds like you have not been in the area... you may not know.. well you probably do, that this board tends to take care of plainfield first.. and it neglects or ignores the needs of other residents in the district. Of course, these areas are expected to pay for plainfields projects??? while footing the bill.. HELL NO!!!.. This board had to buy a horse riding facility because a group wanted it.. Can you say $1 Million dollars?? It cant even make enough revenue to pay for itself.. The big problem is that this board, sports councils, and these Im a new resident and we need this group, want to become like another surrounding park districts, loaded down with eminities that the taxpayers will be burdened with.. Just look at Joliets splash station, lost over a $600,000! Who will pick that up the taxpayers.. Plus another problem sir.. is that mostly people posting at a citizens... is that its mostly plainfield residents know of that site, people in the other areas dont know about their site.. therefore this site is more friendly. and more accessable.. less chance of being censored..
Plus its doubtful that the board really cares what posted there.. since there are people who post there dont like other people who disagree..

[Plainfield Jake]

you tell them andy!!! To often these politicans believe that taxpayers are just credit cards to be used an abused without regard of equality.. I would be supportive of the board, but not until they start treating all areas the same.. not place everything into plainfield.. Come to think of, traffic is so bad now and looks in the near future... why would you want to put facilities into an area of heavy congestion? How many times have i heard at village meetings complaints about traffic being so bad and nothing is getting done...etc... just a lot of talk. Wouldnt be more efficant to put facilities over a wide area where access is better, maybe if the district didnt hog all the facilities in ONE area, there would be so much bad feelings and foster more cooperation between residents and non residents.. But this is governmental body with a ego on to itself..
sorry to rip into the village board.. they cant help themselves.. as well as the park district

[Bob C]

Andy,

Any type of voting action conducted by a municipality or government entity will result in a pro vs. con scenario. The big thing though is both sides must come to the table in a professional and accurate manner. The focus group and the park district have done so. If you have a negative aspect to this referendum that is fine. Its good to have both sides so that all potential residents have a chance to be informed. My only advice is to provide your platform in a professional and informed manner. Its great to see that you really care about this and are providing the "other side of the story", however, when your forum post grammar is comparable to a 10 year old, you can easily be dismissed. Its kind of like pushing a bill to stop sexual predators in the House and your name is Tom Foley. If you have financial numbers to justify your case, be accurate and not summarize information from an article you read by journalist that has a degree from the University of Phoenix.

Plus, why wouldnt you want to keep posting to the focus group website (www.citizensforparks.com )? I'm pretty sure you have not promoted your lenghthy topix.net forum URL to anyone but people who stumble upon it.

People in the community know about the advertised website, not your want-to-be myspace-type forum.