Activist Toolkit

Cathleen M. McDermott has not submitted answers to the Activist Toolkit questionnaire.

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1. Why do you want to serve on the Park District Board? What makes you qualified to serve? What metrics of success do you plan on holding yourself accountable to?

2. How do you make decisions? 

3. What are the three biggest challenges or opportunities facing the Forest Park Park District in the next three, five, and ten years and how should elected officials address them over the next four years?

4. Pass-through funding from the State of Illinois has been scarcer in recent years due to fiscal issues at the State level. How would you approach the budgeting process?  What plans do you have for continuing to fund programing and facilities improvement?

5. What would you say to voters who are worried about the tax burden?

6. What does transparency in government mean to you?  How would you put it into practice? What areas can the Park improve on, if any? 

7. What barriers do you see for community members who wish to engage with the Park District? How would you work to reduce or eliminate those barriers?  

8. How do you define equity? Have recent events and discussions in the larger community informed or changed your thinking? Has the Park District board and staff undertaken any DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) training?

9. How have you/will you solicit feedback from people who may be experiencing this community in a different way than you? What barriers do you believe may exist in this process?

10. What are your thoughts on the appropriate limits on candidates/officeholders weighing in on the actions of a different taxing body?

11. Park districts make use of many different sources of funding, including property tax revenues, fees, and grants. Do you feel the Park District maintains the right balance of free and fee-based facilities and programming for financial sustainability and equity? What do you see as the tradeoffs?

12. How do you plan to keep up to date about best practices for environmentally-friendly maintenance?

13. Much is made of how long one has lived in Forest Park as a marker of legitimacy in its local government. This can serve to delegitimize the large number of people who have recently moved here, especially those who are renting. How will you work to get the perspectives of and involvement from newly arrived Forest Parkers and especially renters in the village?

14. The Park District has recently expanded to include both the pocket parks and the former Oak Leaf property, and now discussions are afoot about the role of the Park District in managing potential greenspace at the Altenheim. What do you think is the appropriate size and scope of the Park District’s land and activities? How can such expansion be sustainably financed?

15. What are the appropriate limits to a nepotism policy that would prevent the appearance of favoritism while not unduly hindering the ability of local government to work with those who already have an existing relationship with government stakeholders?

16. How often, and what is the format for evaluating the Executive Director? How are you including employee and resident feedback in that process? 

17. What is your favorite Forest Park Park District program, event, or service?

18. For those who are currently serving on the Park District Board: What vote are you most proud of, and what vote do you most regret? Why?