February 22, 2025 • 48 mins
Jim and his wife, Jaymie, have lived in Mokena since 2007, raising their three children in District 159 schools. A Mokena native and graduate of Mokena Jr. High and Lincoln-Way, Jim earned his Communications degree from Eastern Illinois University. He works as a Financial Representative with Country Financial and has served the community as past President of the Mokena Lions Club, current President of the Mokena Burros, and both President and Vice President of the Mokena School District 159 Board of Education. Now, he's running for his 4th term on the school board.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Considering we don't have like a little local town
newspaper like we used to yearsago, this is a nice way so
people can try to get a betteridea of what's going on.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Jim, I really appreciate you sitting down and
talking with me.
You got it.
You know I think this is a downand talking with me.
You got it.
I think this is a goodopportunity for people to get to
know the candidates a littlemore as well, as you've been a
board member for quite a whilenow, so a good opportunity for
people that might not know youto get to know you.
Sure, maybe just tell us alittle bit about yourself.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Okay, I grew up here in town.
I lived here almost my entirelife, went to all the Mokina
schools growing up, includinglocal preschools, and then up
through high school andabsolutely loved it here and it
gave me a great foundation whereI went off to college and that
went incredibly well.
I met my wife there and Jamie'sawesome.
(01:09):
We just had our 20thanniversary Congratulations,
thank you.
We have three great kids andeven back then, when we were
dating at Eastern, I was told itwas important to me to raise my
family around here, and we did.
And when Alex was very little,we bought a nice home here in
town and we're still there andwe like it.
And then we had two great girls, katie and Vivian, join us.
And along the way I've been apresident of the Lions Club and
(01:31):
that's been a wonderfulexperience, and I've been parts
of other groups as well.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
I mean just try to jump in and out.
Tell us professionally what youdo.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
So I've been an insurance and financial advisor
for about 22 years now.
I started my practice right outof college and it's been going
incredibly well and most of myclients all can meet through
referrals.
Because you try to do a realgood job for people and just
like professionally, but alsowith the school, I really just
try to listen and help where I'mable to, and sometimes that's
(02:01):
just listening, sometimes thatis trying to identify problems
and try to see what proactivesteps can be taken to deal with
them.
You know it's all part of thegame.
What can we do to try to makethings a little better?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Tell us a little bit about how you have fun, what
your hobbies are.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Well, I've been coaching for a long time.
I played rugby in college, atEastern, and then one of my
friends started a rugby programwhen Alex was in fourth grade,
and I've been coaching his teamever since he was in fifth grade
, so for quite a while now he'sa senior now.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Rugby's a little different.
Like it's, it's is it kind offinding a niche kind of, but not
a lot of people are doing it.
How did you find your way intoplaying rugby?
Well, I played football.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Growing up, football was a big part of my life in
high school.
I absolutely loved it.
I went off to college and I sawother people playing rugby,
which is kind of a combinationof soccer and wrestling more
than anything and I fell in lovewith it and I played it for
four years there.
I was an officer in the clubfor two and a half years as a
treasurer, and I absolutelyloved it.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
So you gave up.
You swapped out football forrugby at college.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yeah, and then ultimately, when?
My friend started the programand he was looking to grow it.
Once Alex was old enough andAlex was interested, he played
football growing up with theMokena Burroughs and those kind
of things and he wanted to getmore involved doing that.
So I've been coaching for along time and I've coached high
school boys, high school girls,the elementary grades etc.
(03:33):
And I absolutely love it.
All three of my children playand they all do incredibly well.
They've won major championshipsin the state of Illinois and
it's great.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Tell me a little bit about the Cobra organization
that you're involved with.
Yeah, so my buddy.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Rocky started this program about 11-12 years ago.
By now I'm the vice presidentof it and it's really more about
giving kids an opportunity totry a new sport and it's growing
.
We have the largest rugbyprogram in the entire state,
partly because we start infourth grade and go all the way
up through high school and itgives kids a chance to try
(04:09):
something new and we've got somekids.
They do it for years and someof them try it for a season or
two, but they have the abilityto try something new.
And when you get a lot ofbigger guys like us who want to
be able to pick up the ball andrun and score instead of just
being linemen all the time, itopens up some more doors for a
little bit more fun and that'spart of all of this.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
It's a good time, but it gives people a good
opportunity Are you seeing kidscome out of these programs now
and have opportunities incollege and high school in that?
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Yeah, so one of our players I'm not going to name
him because we're all in this.
His name's Johnny.
He knows who he is.
He played with us for a longtime.
Great guy, he's one of ourcaptains, one of our leaders,
and he got a ride to college,wow.
So he is playing for a collegeteam in the New York area and
they're doing incredibly well.
They just went 9-0 for theirfall season.
(05:01):
We just put it on our club'sFacebook page today, actually.
So Johnny is doing incrediblywell and I'm very happy for him.
He's a good guy.
One of our other guys who'salso named John he got a full
ride to the Naval Academy andhe's playing rugby as a freshman
(05:22):
in the Naval Academy and he'sgoing to be completing his
training up to, and becoming, anofficer and he's got his own
designs on what he wants to doinside that program.
But it's a great opportunity.
And we have other players.
We have another female playerwho also is in the process of
going to the Naval Academy,which is absolutely amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Sounds like you get a lot of tough people coming
through there.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
You know they'll turn into one after a while it takes
a special breed to try to dosome of this stuff and if this
is something they're interestedin and I can try to be a good
part of their support and theirjourney, then I try to do it and
I wish them well and try tohelp them out where I can Talk
about any other you mentioned.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
you're a former, you're a Lion and you're a past
president from the Lions, butwhat else are you involved with
locally?
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yeah, I've been in the Lions for about 15 years.
I went up through the ranks,including president.
It was a wonderful opportunityand I'm glad I'm still part of
the club.
But you learn a lot by dealingwith people and trying to have
projects together and what wecan do.
And one of the best thingsabout it is they're raising
money to give it away, andwhether we're delivering food at
(06:32):
the major holidays or we'rehelping children with vision and
hearing problems, there'speople in this town that are
better off because we were ableto help support them.
And then I've been with theMokena Burroughs, the football
and cheerleading group.
I've been with them for oh,probably 11 years by now.
I've been the vice presidentfor 10.
(06:53):
And I'm going to be voted onbeing the president next week
and it's all good.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
So thank you, yeah that's great, and tell us a
little bit about how you firstended up running for school
board or getting on the schoolboard.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Sure.
So, like I said, I grew up inthis town, I wanted to raise my
family here and shortly after wemoved back, which was it was
about November of 2007.
And as Alex was getting olderand he was going to preschool
and we're making connections intown, my wife Jamie started
(07:30):
noticing a few things and at acertain time she's asking me why
did we move here?
Because there were some thingsgoing on.
There was a group of peopleinvolved that they had
differences of opinions and Ithink that they were trying to
cut programs and supposedly savemoney to try to help people
(07:50):
save money on their propertytaxes, and it wasn't in the best
interest of kids or ourcommunity.
And I was highly encouragedabout 12 years ago to try to get
in there and do what I could do, and I'm a busy guy.
I have a very demanding job, Ienjoy coaching, I enjoy doing
(08:11):
other things.
There's only so much time inthe day, but this has been one
of the most rewarding things Icould do and I enjoy doing.
In fact, today I turned in mypapers to run again, but there
were things going on that theyweren't in the best interest of
kids or our community and I gotin there and I'm glad I did,
because we were able to makepositive choices that helped the
(08:33):
kids.
We were able to bring backfull-day kindergarten because,
alex, being in preschool,there's only so much time in the
day and when I had teacherstelling me there's only so many
minutes, they're describingtheir whole morning in minutes
and what they're trying to doand there's not enough time, and
they weren't able to do whatthey really needed to do.
And there was a lot of othercommunities that were doing
(08:56):
full-day kindergarten and I hada lot of parents saying that's
something we should do andeverybody can have an opinion
and that's fine, but is it a bigenough ask that it makes sense
to explore?
And it did so.
We had the money to do it, wehad the space to do it, it was
something our teachers wereasking for and our families were
(09:16):
asking for.
So we did and that's only one,for instance.
But I got involved because I wasasked to, but because there
were legitimate concerns at thattime.
Thankfully those concerns, andthere always will.
Because I was asked to, butbecause there were legitimate
concerns at that time,thankfully those concerns, and
there always will be some kindof concerns, but the district's
in a better place now, not onlyfinancially, but the kids are
doing well.
They're going to Lincoln wherethey're succeeding.
(09:37):
All this is about trying togive the kids a good opportunity
moving forward and that's why,if I can be a small part of that
success as silly as that maysound that's what I'm really
trying to do, because I'm tryingto make it better than when I
found it.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
And when did you first run for?
Speaker 1 (09:53):
school board I first ran 12 years ago, so yeah, yeah,
wow, okay yeah, this will be myfourth term.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
And what do you see as the biggest challenges for
the school district currently?
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Well, like anything else, there's always the
possibility of unfunded mandatescoming from the state.
There is always certain thingsthat might pop up that might
require money.
That, for the most part, isreally budgeted out pretty
diligently.
At the end of the day, thetaxpayers are trusting us with a
certain amount of money moneyand you want to make sure you're
allocating it correctly, andthat's always my biggest concern
(10:28):
is are there going to beunfunded mandates that come in
that are going to start tappinginto that, such as we have a
fair amount of, I will say,english language learners, which
are people that do not speakEnglish as their primary
language, and when you haveenough of those students in any
one building, you have to teachin their native language.
(10:50):
That's a law, while there's acost to doing that.
Then you have to deal with thespace, the logistics and if we
have to, we will.
That's absolutely fine.
But that's about meeting theneeds of our students.
But there's always going to befinancial concerns, but we have
the right people in place tohelp us forecast what those are
(11:10):
and deal with it accordingly,partly because we have a very
detailed mission and vision forthe district and helps outline
what the goals are and whatreally needs the attention, so
the money can be allocatedappropriately.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
So the money can be allocated appropriately.
How do you feel that, or howcan the Board of Education best
communicate with constituents orthe public?
Speaker 1 (11:32):
That is always the million-dollar question, because
we have a lot of people in ourcommunity that don't have kids.
In our school we have aroundnumbers, about 1,550 students
all in and we've got a communityof approximately 20,000 these
days.
I mean, it used to be three,but I think now it's around 20.
And if they don't have a kid inthe district, how do they know?
(11:54):
Do they want to know?
And there's information on thewebsite that's public facing.
Anybody can see it.
One of the ideas I have had,which we're in the process of
trying to think through, is thevillages sending out their
monthly water bills, and I'vealways thought if we can have a
small portion of that, itdoesn't have to be all that
(12:15):
often, but it goes to everybody.
They're trying to fill thespace anyway.
But could that be a way sopeople that don't have kids in
the district can still have arough idea how things are going?
And that's an idea that we'reexploring but it's not finished
yet.
But trying to effectivelycommunicate to everybody.
Yeah, they can go to thewebsite, that's absolutely true,
(12:36):
but you try to meet them wherethey're at, and that's why I
came up with the water bill idea, because everybody gets it, you
know.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
So talking about kind of the wider constituency and,
like you said, not everybody hasa kid in school, absolutely.
You kind of hear the argumentevery now and then People will
say, hey, I don't have kids inthe school, why should I keep
paying property taxes?
Good question.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
And there's two parts to it.
For starters, whether peopleknow it or not, we all have a
very positive vested interest inthe school succeeding, because
if the school does well, so dothe property values.
If the school is not doing sowell, people aren't going to
want to move here and that'sgoing to have a big impact on
(13:25):
their property values and theability to sell their home.
I want the school to do well, Iwant the families to have a
good experience, but I wanteverybody to have a little share
of the win through theirproperty values, because it
really is a symbioticrelationship.
It absolutely is.
Now you won't be good stewardsof their money a 100% but I
(13:46):
think getting everybody at thetable is important.
We had a gentleman Mike Everettused to be mayor in this town
for a while.
He was on the board for anumber of years with us and I
wanted that.
When we had to fill a position,when our friend joined the
Lincoln Way board and he wasable to join us and then he was
able to run again, I thoughtthat was a positive thing
(14:08):
because he didn't have any kidsin the district.
His kids were much, much olderand I thought that was a
positive thing.
So it wasn't only parentssitting at that table.
I wanted that voice too.
That was important to me, butat the end of the day, everybody
has a vested interest in theschools doing well because of
their property values.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Simple as that and talk a little bit about, maybe
tell people what the actual timerequirements are being a board
member, Besides just going to ameeting.
What's the requirement.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Last night I was up there.
We were having professionaldevelopment, because that's
important.
You want to make sure you'rekeeping up on the new trends.
You're trying to make sureeverything is being communicated
effectively, what people can dobetter, etc.
So I worked all day and I wasup at the elementary school from
6 to 9 last night.
Then I got up early and wentback up to work and here I am
(15:02):
with you.
In an average month you get theboard packet on a Friday,
approximately 300 pages, andsome of it is the same things
you're going to see month in,month out, like the budget, like
the bills that correspond tothe budget, and they're all tied
into the strategic plan.
So you know where it's going togo for the most part, and
(15:22):
you're going to spend a fairamount of time reading that,
thinking about it, askingquestions about it, dealing with
the follow-up.
So, in addition to the meeting,which can be approximately you
know, call it three hoursroughly starts at seven every
once in a while it'll be donebefore 10.
There's plenty of times itdoesn't get done till after 11.
(15:42):
Plus the reading of the packet,plus all the other time it
takes to do things.
Yeah, it's a fair amount oftime, but in my opinion it's
time well spent, because youwant to make sure you're looking
at things correctly, you'relistening to people, you're
trying to make sure you'repaying attention to the right
things, so you're doing theright things.
Right it is.
(16:03):
It is a time commitment andit's one that, if I'm being
honest, I don't spend a wholelot of time thinking about as
I'm going through it, because II spend enough time thinking
about time.
Otherwise, like we're atpractice for two hours, we got
an hour until we got to besomewhere because of something.
This is it's it's borderline oflabor.
(16:24):
I love that you don't.
You don't really want to thinkabout too much how much time
you're putting into it, becauseit adds up quick.
And then you're walking throughBurkotts or Meyer and people
want to talk to you, and that'spart of the game too.
That's okay.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Funny, though, how you find the time to fit the
things in your life that you'repassionate about, and that is
major takeaway.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
I mean, you and I are roughly the same age when we
were growing up.
There was a phrase I'm sureit's still out there when
there's a will, there's a way.
And the truth is, when I gotvolunteered voluntold whatever
to get involved in this, youstart wondering how am I going
to make time for that?
How am I going to do it?
How am I going to do it?
And I'm of the opinion if youreally want to figure out
something in life, chances areyou're going to figure out a way
(17:06):
to do it, and if you don't,then any excuse will cut it.
But yeah, it's definitely aprocess, but it's one I like.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
One of the things going on right now that is
extremely important to thecommunity is the process of
finding a new permanentsuperintendent.
Yes, so talk a little bit aboutwhat that process is like and
the things that you want to seewhen you're looking at
candidates for superintendent.
That's fine.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
So some of this because we're actively going
through the process.
Some of this is closed sessionmaterial.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
And you can keep it in generalities.
Yeah, and I will.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
I will, but in short order.
We hired a professional searchfirm to help us find and vet
candidates.
And that search firm has a verywide pull because they are
listening not only to the board.
They're listening to the admin,they're listening to the
teachers, but they're alsolistening to the community
members, because that wasimportant to me and others I'm
(18:07):
not trying to say it was just meit was important to a lot of
people on the board to make surewe had community input.
Now all those groups cometogether and they help work with
the search firm to have an ideaof what would a successful
superintendent look like inMokena.
And that's a process rightthere Now, from there, and
(18:28):
essentially they're going out,they're searching, they're
talking about our community,they are trying to show people
why they should be here.
But we're also trying tounderstand who we're really
looking for to be here.
We're not looking for a brandnew person.
We're looking for someone withmore experience, someone that
has an idea of really what'sgoing on in a K-8 district,
which is what we have of reallywhat's going on in a K-8
(18:50):
district, which is what we have,and then from there we're going
to have about six candidatesand then the board's going to
interview them.
There is going to be andthat'll be, two rounds right
there, three and three, and thenwe're going to be having the
community involved in one ofthose interview processes,
because I care about what theythink as well.
(19:14):
I'm always of the opinion, evenif I think I've got a really
good idea, chance are it can geta little bit better.
So let's figure that out too.
But then from there we're goingto narrow it down to the final
two and, from what I understand,we might have something to
share approximately December,january, without going into too
many details.
(19:34):
But in all honesty it's a fluidsituation.
When we're at the board meetingin November, whenever people
are watching this, that's whenwe're going to be learning more
about who the potentialcandidates are and what their
strengths are, and trying tofigure out who could be the best
fit for our community, basedupon what our community is
(19:55):
really looking for.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
And one of the issues is the fact that we're looking
for another superintendent.
Dr Cohen was only here for fouryears.
I think the expectation wasthat he would be here longer.
And Don White before him alsohad a shorter term, I think,
(20:22):
maybe than was expected or hopedfor, but I know there were
other issues.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Well, no, there's no secrets here.
I'll tell you what's going on,because this is not privileged
or confidential.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Yeah, so that's what I like to you know what's going
on, what changes need to be madeso that we can have a
superintendent in place that'sgoing to be in for a longer
period of time.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
I'm looking for someone that can build into
longevity.
I want someone that'll make along-term commitment to our
community, because I thinkthat's important.
I'm not looking for a bridge,I'm not looking for a three-year
deal.
I'm looking for someone thatwants to come in see where we're
at and can always help improvethings and can try to do what's
(21:05):
in the best interest of kids inour community.
Now, as far as Don is concerned, he's a great guy.
He is.
I'll tell you guys that firstoff, originally, it was going to
be a three-year deal and, quitehonestly, we were lucky to have
him.
It's kind of like getting aMercedes on a Ford budget.
He's a good person andultimately, when it came time to
(21:25):
his retirement plans, certainthings came up and he had to
leave us in year two.
Quite honestly, we knew wewould have to be looking at the
next steps and it was part ofthe game it is.
There will always be change andyou have to be able to adapt.
The Merck situation, quitehonestly, was surprising and I
(21:48):
like him as a person.
I think he did a lot of goodthings for our community, but it
was a surprise when I found outthrough an email on a Monday
night.
I was not anticipating that.
He had a contract, he was beingpaid, he was doing a lot of
good things and then, ultimately, he made a decision that he
thought was in his best interest.
(22:09):
And I don't pretend to know theins and outs of exactly why he
did what he did, other than, inmy opinion, it wasn't necessary,
and I think he's a good person.
I think he did a lot of goodthings for our community and
from there you know, likeanything else, you have to adapt
.
You know things happen in life,so we're going through the
(22:34):
appropriate steps, thankfully,when we needed an interim Steve
Stein is a good guy.
He's got a good background whenI started with the I almost call
it the firm when I started withthe school, he was a
superintendent at that time andhe did the onboarding for myself
and the other three boardmembers at that time, and he did
the onboarding for myself andthe other three board members at
that time, one of which is AnnaBriscoe and she's running again
(22:55):
and she's a great person.
We're lucky to have her too,but Steve's a good guy and I've
kept in contact with him overthe years.
I would see him at the annualconference that we're getting
ready to go to later this monthand it was always a very
pleasant thing.
So when we knew Mark wasleaving, and on rather short
notice, we needed to find ainterim superintendent that
(23:17):
could give us that bridge for ayear, so we were not rushing
into a decision that would havemajor impacts on our community
and our students.
I don't like rushing things.
I generally think taking ameasured approach is a better
way to do it.
But Steve's a great person andwe're lucky to have him and he's
going to help give us just thatsteady hand to get things going
(23:43):
for the next year and then thenext superintendent whoever that
person is will have a nice,solid foundation.
And because they've got goodpeople around Kristen Johnson is
a wonderful assistantsuperintendent, terry Shaw is a
great financial person on ourdistrict and we have a lot of
(24:04):
other good people as wellBecause ultimately I want a good
team that is going to succeedfor the best interests of kids
and I want that longevityBecause I think it's going to
succeed for the best interestsof kids and I want that
longevity because I think it'simportant.
I'm not looking to be a steppingstone up to a high school
career because in all fairness,I can understand people wanting
to extend their careers.
(24:25):
I totally get that.
That's part of the game too butI'm really looking to find
someone that will have somelongevity here.
That's one of my goals, andit's a goal shared by a lot of
people in that room, to behonest.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
So do you think you're able to address what the
issue was?
Do you feel there's an issue atthe board that would cause him
to leave, or do you just feel itwas a personal decision and so
be it?
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Well, the answer is I can't tell you exactly why he
did what he did, because Ididn't know he was doing it.
He didn't consult me, didn'task me.
I got an email on a Mondaynight about it.
So, whatever the potentialissue was if there was one never
talked to me about it, nevertalked to the rest of us about
(25:20):
it.
For all I know, he was here andhe had a different opportunity
that came along and that's whathe decided to do.
I would hope that it was notbecause of some kind of internal
issue.
I would hope that it was notbecause of some kind of internal
issue.
I would really hope that's notthe case.
I can tell you I always had goodexperiences with him.
(25:40):
He's a decent guy.
He's in the Lions Club, youknow.
I would see him, I would talkwith him outside of the school
setting and he always had goodthings to do for these kids and
I liked that when we had thepancake breakfast and he's out
there working, kids would comeup and want to talk to him.
I think that's a good sign ofsomething.
(26:02):
So, yeah, this was unforeseenand it's not what I expected,
and I'm not going to tell youI'm happy about it.
I'm not going to infer anythingbeyond that because, quite
honestly, it had nothing to dowith me.
I went in there the day after Igot that email and I went into
the school that morning and Ishook his hand and I wished him
well because I thought that wasthe class act to do, regardless
(26:24):
of my personal feelings.
You know, at the end of the day, people are going to do what
they choose to do because theythink it's in their best
interest and we have tounderstand that is part of the
game.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Yeah, well, it's a hugely uh important search, so I
hope that goes well for theboard and the right person comes
forward to fill dr cohen's uhshoes, because he, uh he played
a very big role and was a verylarge figure in multiple ways in
(26:56):
the school district, so he isdefinitely missed.
So good luck in that wholeprocess.
I only wish him the best.
Same here the school districtaccounts for me for about 35% of
my property tax bill.
Yeah, so tell me and tell ushow can taxpayers be sure that
(27:18):
the school district is spendingtheir tax dollars in the most
efficient way possible?
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Well, and that's a real good question, because if
you look at the state ofIllinois and if you look at
specifically our community, theschool is largely paid for by
the Mokena taxing residents theyare.
We get very little money fromthe state and very little money
from the Fed.
So ultimately, I am beholden toeverybody I'm walking around
(27:44):
town talking to at Burkotts andevery place else, and I want to
be a good steward of their taxmoney.
So how do we do that?
For starters, I believe intransparency.
People can see the budget,people can see where money is
spent.
When the referendum was passeda couple years ago, part of that
process that was very importantto me was to clearly
(28:06):
communicate why we're doing it,which was to keep the buildings
warm, safe and dry.
What are the issues?
So we have before and afterpictures so people can see
exactly what's, which was tokeep the buildings warm, safe
and dry.
What are the issues?
So we have before and afterpictures so we can see exactly
what's going on.
But any of those processes arealways put out for bid once
there's enough money and if Itell you, I believe the state
required number is $35,000, Ibelieve I'm correct but, quite
(28:29):
honestly, once we're looking tomake any major expenditure.
We're not just going throughthe motions.
We have a whole sealed bidprocess because we have an
objective and I want to makesure if somebody comes in and
wants to look at things, theycan feel good about that.
And when we just passed ouraudit, which they came and
(28:50):
talked to us at our Octoberboard meeting we just passed our
audit, which they came andtalked to us at our October
board meeting we got the bestrating you could possibly have,
which is on a scale of one tofour, four being the best, and
that's what we got.
They looked through ourinternal controls, they looked
through how we were doing thingsand they gave our people a
great grade.
And to me that's important,because when you're dealing with
(29:11):
other people's money, youbetter have enough courage to
make sure it's spent correctly.
Now we may have a difference ofopinion on what that means
about a certain topic, but forthe most part, you want to make
sure you're using other people'smoney wisely, because I think
that's important.
I think that's why the biddingprocess is important, because
you want to make sure the moneyis being spent wisely, because
(29:34):
I'm paying it too.
You're sending in two checks ayear.
I'm not telling you to feelgood about spending it, but our
community is actively supportingour district and to me that
trust needs to be rewarded andit is because when you send our
students to Lincoln Way, thestudents are doing well, they're
(29:57):
succeeding, they're thriving,they're doing we are doing the
right things right.
So these kids are getting takencare of and that is really the
biggest testament on how.
If we were having audit issueswhich we're not different story.
But the audits are routinelyclean, the internal controls are
(30:17):
doing just fine and you want tomake sure the money is being
spent wisely.
And if there's questions, cometalk to us.
That's okay.
The community can submitquestions, whether they're at
the meeting or not, and thebudget is always on display for
30 days at a minimum andhonestly, it's on display twice,
because there is an originalbudget in the fall and then
(30:40):
there's an amended budget in thespring, because by then you
have a better idea of the realtax money dollars are coming in
and you have some a better ideaon what the expenses are and you
try to true that up.
You make sure you're doing theright things right, because to
me that's very important.
With my financial background.
I think it's important thatpeople have trust that the money
(31:02):
is spent wisely, and that'sjust very important to me.
It's real.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Another very important thing for all parents
is safety.
Yes, so talk about how canparents be sure, when they send
their kids to school, thatthey're going to be safe.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
That is a great question and there are certain
things that I can share here andcertain things I think
everybody can understand.
I will not be sharing and Ikeep that very close to the
chest because to me safety isimportant.
I want the children to be safe.
I want the families tounderstand that there are things
(31:43):
in place to help maintain thesafety of the schools at every
level.
That is very important to me.
That is very important to me.
I can tell you that we haveinput from all the local
departments that you would thinkwe'd have input with.
We have a detailed plan on howto handle certain situations,
(32:04):
knowing it's always going to bea fluid situation and when
certain things happen.
If you have a general guide andthe right people involved to
try to maintain safety and so on, then you've got a higher
likelihood of success, becausewe're talking about kids and
(32:33):
we're talking about the plans ofthe school.
But I will tell you there aredetailed plans in place to try
to keep these kids safe and howto deal with certain challenges
as they present themselves andand those plant, and that
strategy has worked out prettywell.
Nothing is ever perfect, butsafety is very important to me
and I will tell you that theright people are involved to
(32:56):
help make sure our schools aresafe so the kids can learn the
way they should be withoutworrying about so many of these
crises in the outside world.
I want the schools to be safeso the kids can focus on
learning.
They can focus on being aroundtheir friends and trying to make
the best out of their schoolday.
I don't want them worried aboutsafety and security issues.
(33:18):
Quite honestly, that's our job.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
What do you feel is the role of the board when it
comes to curriculum?
Speaker 1 (33:27):
At a certain point, our job as board members.
To give you an analogy, let'slook at it like this the board's
objective is to supply themission and the vision to the
district.
It's up to the district tosupply how they're going to meet
those goals.
They are a response for theends of getting the job done.
It's almost like if we weregoing to fly somewhere.
(33:48):
I don't care where it is, it'sour job to pick the destination.
It's our job to think of thosekind of things.
I am not the pilot flying theplane and I am not the engineer
making sure everything's runningcorrectly, nor am I the other
parts of those components.
So how do we handle curriculum?
We hire the right people and weput them in place and we make
(34:10):
sure that they have the rightbackgrounds, the right pedigrees
to understand not only iswhat's in the best interest of
kids, but where are ourchallenges and what can be done
to make it better?
So is Jim picking out the nextscience curriculum?
Not really, because that's notwhat the board does.
We can be asked about it andconsulted about it, especially
(34:35):
if we're thinking about making amajor purchase to expand a
curriculum or to changesomething.
But if we're looking at onetextbook versus another.
Quite honestly, that's KristenJohnson's job and she does a
really good job doing it.
Part of the challenge with allof these things is complacency
is an ugly creature and itdoesn't work.
So you'll always have to beevolving.
(34:57):
There is always new things tolearn.
There's always new materials,strategies, tactics, etc.
Because the teachers have thetechniques, they have the
talents.
In my opinion, it's the schoolboard, through the
administration team, to givethem the tools to succeed.
So Chris and Johnson and thestaff are actively working on
(35:21):
evolving the curriculum andtrying to make it better
curriculum or an Englishlanguage arts curriculum,
because ultimately our statescores are important, not that
you're teaching to a test, butthere is a measuring effect and
(35:41):
if there's things that we can dobetter, our team is already
looking at those and trying tofigure out what can they do to
help.
So it's a fairly detailedanswer, but the quick and dirty
of it is if you put the rightpeople in place to do their jobs
.
That is what their job is.
I am not going to micromanagethose kind of things because
(36:04):
that's not really what the boarddoes.
I don't get involved at thatgranular level.
To me, it's more about puttingthe right people in place who
have those designations that canhelp take care of these kids
and support the teachers throughthings like professional
development and the additionalcurriculum supplies they need,
(36:26):
etc.
So ultimately the kids get theexperience they should be having
.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
So ultimately, the kids get the experience they
should be having.
What do you feel is the bestway to address differences of
opinions between board members,as well as differences between
the board members andadministration?
Speaker 1 (36:45):
I think that there's two things you can do right off
the top.
Part of it is to understandyour role in this dance, and
when I was brought onto this,steve Stein and this is very
common in the education worldthink of a high school dance,
like when we were all kids.
You got the kids down therehaving fun or at least trying to
(37:06):
talk to somebody, and, if theygot a little bit of courage and
then you've got the other peoplestanding in the balcony keeping
an eye on what's going on.
The board members are designedto stay in the balcony.
They have a basic idea ofwhat's going on and they're
trying to pay attention tothings, but they're not involved
in the minutia of the detailsand understanding.
(37:30):
That helps compartmentalize.
Whose job is it to do differentthings?
Because if there's some kind ofan overstep one way or the other
, that can lead to friction andbeyond that, generally people
may not always agree, and that'sokay.
But if people talk honestly andopenly about what's really going
(37:51):
on, they they may still notagree, but they might understand
more about why somebody thinksthe way they do, and that I've
always been of the opinion.
If people had three quarters ofthe information they think they
need.
They can get the other quarterby listening to others and
trying to bridge that gap.
So if you and I were having adiscussion on something, chances
(38:14):
are we're both going to come atit from different angles, but
we're going to have differentinsight on it and the hope is at
the end of that conversation,no matter what it is, we're both
better off for it and we canwork the problem.
You want to be soft on people,but you want to focus on the job
at hand and usually if you'rereally focusing on what are we
(38:36):
really trying to accomplish andwe're both being open and honest
on how to deal with it, even ifwe have a difference of opinion
, hopefully we can figure outsomething on how to deal with it
.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
So right now it looks like there are going to be
eight candidates for 159 schooldistrict.
Yep.
Tell us why we should vote foryou.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
Well, I grew up here.
I moved my entire family backhere because to me that's
important.
I like the community.
I wanted my kids to have a good, solid education and I got
involved because I thought itwas just that important and
we've made positive stridesalong the way.
The full-day kindergarten thatwas a great thing for the
(39:20):
community.
There has been other thingsover the years that people have
brought up to me and I've triedto listen and help and to me
that's why I want to keep doingthis, because I have more to
give.
I enjoy the work.
Some people will say this is athankless job.
The truth is I get morepositive feedback than anything
(39:40):
because of how I'm trying toapproach it and I like doing it.
And sometimes that's dealingwith challenging situations and
challenging people and that'spart of the game too, but I
enjoy the work.
I think our school district isbetter off because we have that
solid financial backing, becausewe are being responsible with
other people's money and becausewe are doing what's in the best
(40:02):
interest of kids.
And as long as we follow thosebasic things, we're going to be
on the right path.
And there are some people andI'm not going to say anything
about anybody, because it's notmy style.
I'm not going to do it, but Ican tell you that I enjoy the
work.
I know that the fellow boardmembers that are running along
with me Lisa Zielinski, annaBriscoe and Eric Bush have put a
(40:25):
lot of time and have a veryvested interest in seeing our
community succeed, and they alsoare running with us because we
all turned in our packets thismorning and are you running as a
slate together unofficial slateor what?
You know that is that's more forfor trying to figure out things
in the spring, and that's notany.
(40:47):
We haven't really had thatdiscussion.
To tell you true, at this pointmy biggest question was do I
want to keep doing this?
Because it is a large timecommitment, but the kids are
better off because of it andI've been of the opinion that if
I do a good job for others,it's going to work out for more
(41:07):
people just fine.
I mean, I'll always rememberwhen I was board president a
couple years ago, there was this, this young lady.
She came up and she startedtalking to us at the board meet
and that takes a lot of courage.
And she's standing there at themicrophone with her piece of
paper and she's like you know,we got baseball teams, we got
all these teams.
We don't have a real softballteam and i'm'm like you're right
(41:29):
, we don't.
And I'm looking over at DrOlenaitis, I was looking over
our previous superintendent orchief financial person.
I'm like okay, guys, if this isinteresting, what does it take
to get off the ground?
Well, do we have enough kidsthat want to do it?
We did.
Do we have the financialbacking to do it?
Do we have a teacher that wantsto get involved?
(41:49):
Do we have a coach?
We have all of these things wedo and they did, and they built
that team and they did well.
And the reason any of this makesa difference is because I am
involved in other operations andI like that.
And one of the fringe benefitsof all of this is I have gone up
to Lincoln Way on scholarshipnight and whether it's the
(42:11):
Mokena Burroughs, whether it'sthe Illinois Junior Celtics,
whether it's the Mokena Lions,I've given away a whole bunch of
money to help these kids and Ilove that.
But she came up to me andlooked at me like you probably
don't remember me.
I'm like, yeah, I do.
You're the reason we gotsoftball to junior high and I
got to be a small part of thatsuccess and then she got a full
(42:34):
ride off to college to playsoftball, which was really
awesome, and she had thatopportunity.
And all of this is about givingthese kids an opportunity and I
think that that's incrediblyimportant and that's why I want
to keep going, because I likethe work and because we're doing
(42:57):
good things for kids and thecommunity.
So I enjoy it and I want tokeep doing it if people want me
to and I can tell you, I had alot of people that reached out
that wanted me to do it.
I got more signatures on mypetition and I had more great
people helping me out, and whenthere's a lot of things going on
in life and you got a lot ofpeople pulling for you, it makes
a difference.
So, yeah, yeah, I absolutelylove it.
We've got a lot of good peopleand a lot of good things going
(43:18):
on and I like being part of that.
I like trying to help where I'mable to.
Speaker 2 (43:23):
So one of the things that's important to any leader
is the next group of people thatcome up behind you, and getting
good people to take the reins.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
What is something that you?
Speaker 2 (43:35):
would say to people that would consider running in
the future for a school board orother boards?
What would you tell people?
Speaker 1 (43:44):
Whether they're running for school or they're
running for another position,whether it be the community
board or the park district, etcetera, you're always going to
need good people and there'salways reasons not to do it
because it's hard.
It's hard to get up there andhave the courage.
It's hard to get up there andlisten to everything that's
(44:05):
going on, because sometimes youmight have a very vocal minority
, and sometimes you might have avery vocal minority and
sometimes you might have a realproblem and you're trying to
figure it out.
It takes courage to getinvolved and that's hard If
you're trying to do what's inthe best interest of the
community, and by that I meanwhat if you're with the park
district or the school oranything else?
(44:25):
What are our ultimate goals?
What are our systems in placeto get that done and what does
it really take to succeed?
I want there to be that success.
I want people to come alongafter me and they will
ultimately see this is what wedid.
Not that they have to recreatethat, but this is a good, solid
foundation that they could growon, and one of the best things
(44:47):
they can do, in my opinion, assimple as it sounds is try to
listen and help.
That is so important to me andhow I do things.
Because if they're reallylistening and that can be hard
sometimes if they're reallylistening to what the community
is telling them, that shouldhelp guide their efforts.
Sometimes people want to get inand they think they can take on
(45:12):
the world and they think thisis a one-person show.
It's not.
I am one voice of seven, andarrogance and self-awareness do
not go hand in hand.
But if you try to do what's inthe best interest of the
community, chances are you'regoing to be just fine?
because you always need goodpeople that'll step up and that
(45:34):
will always be a challenge,because there's a million other
things I could be doing with mytime, but I like this.
It's been a good thing and I'mhappy to keep doing it, but I
want it to continue to exist, tosucceed, long after any of us
are onto something else.
Speaker 2 (45:51):
Well, I appreciate you talking to me and I
appreciate the years of serviceto our community.
Just give you an opportunity ifthere's anything else you want
to share or say as we wrap up.
Speaker 1 (46:03):
Well, thanks for doing this.
I've never done something likethis before.
It's different.
I mean, you got the lights andeverything it it's fun.
But I think this is a goodthing because I want our
community to be able to hearfrom us, and they don't need to
come sit at the board meeting,they don't need to watch the
live stream.
But what people do matters andthe the impacts people have when
(46:28):
they vote matters, and I'm herebecause it does matter.
It matters enough that I wantto keep going.
It matters enough that I wantto be part of that success for a
while longer.
And it matters to me because Igot a lot of good people telling
me we want you to keep going.
So I'm going to, and if that'swhat people would like me to do,
please support me.
(46:49):
And that's wonderful and, andI'm of the opinion, a good idea
can come from almost anywherewithin reason, because a lot of
the big ideas we've worked onwere not.
Jim had a great idea aboutsoftball.
We had parents talking aboutkindergarten, we had people
(47:09):
trying to do what's in the kidsbest interest and ultimately,
that's what I've tried to do.
I mean, years ago when I gotinvolved, it was so expensive
for families to do sports.
It was almost $250 for kids toplay junior high basketball and
I thought that was ridiculous.
I don't care if the family'sgot money.
I wanted the kid to have theopportunity and everybody's got
(47:32):
to pay something no one needsfor free, but it's a flat fee of
50 bucks and I had peoplecoming up to me at Halloween
Hollow shortly after it happenedgoing.
My kid can do volleyball andcross country and all this, to
me, is about giving kids anopportunity and I like being
part of that success.
So that's about as simple as Ican make it.
You try to do the right thingsright to help kids and help our
(47:56):
community, and it's about thatsimple, really.
But anybody's welcome to talkto me.
You know whether they see me ontown, whether they you know
what they want to email me.
Well, whatever, be my guest andwe read them all.
When people email the board, weread them all because you're
trying to make sure you arelistening to people and truly
(48:17):
understanding what's going on.
Speaker 2 (48:18):
So thank you for listening to me.
Well, thank you very much, jim.
I appreciate it.
Be sure to check out ourwebsite, subscribe to our
YouTube page.
You can check out all of thecandidate interviews.
And be sure to vote on April1st.
Thank you.
Considering we don't have like a little local town
newspaper like we used to yearsago, this is a nice way so
people can try to get a betteridea of what's going on.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Jim, I really appreciate you sitting down and
talking with me.
You got it.
You know I think this is a downand talking with me.
You got it.
I think this is a goodopportunity for people to get to
know the candidates a littlemore as well, as you've been a
board member for quite a whilenow, so a good opportunity for
people that might not know youto get to know you.
Sure, maybe just tell us alittle bit about yourself.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Okay, I grew up here in town.
I lived here almost my entirelife, went to all the Mokina
schools growing up, includinglocal preschools, and then up
through high school andabsolutely loved it here and it
gave me a great foundation whereI went off to college and that
went incredibly well.
I met my wife there and Jamie'sawesome.
(01:09):
We just had our 20thanniversary Congratulations,
thank you.
We have three great kids andeven back then, when we were
dating at Eastern, I was told itwas important to me to raise my
family around here, and we did.
And when Alex was very little,we bought a nice home here in
town and we're still there andwe like it.
And then we had two great girls, katie and Vivian, join us.
And along the way I've been apresident of the Lions Club and
(01:31):
that's been a wonderfulexperience, and I've been parts
of other groups as well.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
I mean just try to jump in and out.
Tell us professionally what youdo.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
So I've been an insurance and financial advisor
for about 22 years now.
I started my practice right outof college and it's been going
incredibly well and most of myclients all can meet through
referrals.
Because you try to do a realgood job for people and just
like professionally, but alsowith the school, I really just
try to listen and help where I'mable to, and sometimes that's
(02:01):
just listening, sometimes thatis trying to identify problems
and try to see what proactivesteps can be taken to deal with
them.
You know it's all part of thegame.
What can we do to try to makethings a little better?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Tell us a little bit about how you have fun, what
your hobbies are.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Well, I've been coaching for a long time.
I played rugby in college, atEastern, and then one of my
friends started a rugby programwhen Alex was in fourth grade,
and I've been coaching his teamever since he was in fifth grade
, so for quite a while now he'sa senior now.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Rugby's a little different.
Like it's, it's is it kind offinding a niche kind of, but not
a lot of people are doing it.
How did you find your way intoplaying rugby?
Well, I played football.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Growing up, football was a big part of my life in
high school.
I absolutely loved it.
I went off to college and I sawother people playing rugby,
which is kind of a combinationof soccer and wrestling more
than anything and I fell in lovewith it and I played it for
four years there.
I was an officer in the clubfor two and a half years as a
treasurer, and I absolutelyloved it.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
So you gave up.
You swapped out football forrugby at college.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yeah, and then ultimately, when?
My friend started the programand he was looking to grow it.
Once Alex was old enough andAlex was interested, he played
football growing up with theMokena Burroughs and those kind
of things and he wanted to getmore involved doing that.
So I've been coaching for along time and I've coached high
school boys, high school girls,the elementary grades etc.
(03:33):
And I absolutely love it.
All three of my children playand they all do incredibly well.
They've won major championshipsin the state of Illinois and
it's great.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Tell me a little bit about the Cobra organization
that you're involved with.
Yeah, so my buddy.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Rocky started this program about 11-12 years ago.
By now I'm the vice presidentof it and it's really more about
giving kids an opportunity totry a new sport and it's growing
.
We have the largest rugbyprogram in the entire state,
partly because we start infourth grade and go all the way
up through high school and itgives kids a chance to try
(04:09):
something new and we've got somekids.
They do it for years and someof them try it for a season or
two, but they have the abilityto try something new.
And when you get a lot ofbigger guys like us who want to
be able to pick up the ball andrun and score instead of just
being linemen all the time, itopens up some more doors for a
little bit more fun and that'spart of all of this.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
It's a good time, but it gives people a good
opportunity Are you seeing kidscome out of these programs now
and have opportunities incollege and high school in that?
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Yeah, so one of our players I'm not going to name
him because we're all in this.
His name's Johnny.
He knows who he is.
He played with us for a longtime.
Great guy, he's one of ourcaptains, one of our leaders,
and he got a ride to college,wow.
So he is playing for a collegeteam in the New York area and
they're doing incredibly well.
They just went 9-0 for theirfall season.
(05:01):
We just put it on our club'sFacebook page today, actually.
So Johnny is doing incrediblywell and I'm very happy for him.
He's a good guy.
One of our other guys who'salso named John he got a full
ride to the Naval Academy andhe's playing rugby as a freshman
(05:22):
in the Naval Academy and he'sgoing to be completing his
training up to, and becoming, anofficer and he's got his own
designs on what he wants to doinside that program.
But it's a great opportunity.
And we have other players.
We have another female playerwho also is in the process of
going to the Naval Academy,which is absolutely amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Sounds like you get a lot of tough people coming
through there.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
You know they'll turn into one after a while it takes
a special breed to try to dosome of this stuff and if this
is something they're interestedin and I can try to be a good
part of their support and theirjourney, then I try to do it and
I wish them well and try tohelp them out where I can Talk
about any other you mentioned.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
you're a former, you're a Lion and you're a past
president from the Lions, butwhat else are you involved with
locally?
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yeah, I've been in the Lions for about 15 years.
I went up through the ranks,including president.
It was a wonderful opportunityand I'm glad I'm still part of
the club.
But you learn a lot by dealingwith people and trying to have
projects together and what wecan do.
And one of the best thingsabout it is they're raising
money to give it away, andwhether we're delivering food at
(06:32):
the major holidays or we'rehelping children with vision and
hearing problems, there'speople in this town that are
better off because we were ableto help support them.
And then I've been with theMokena Burroughs, the football
and cheerleading group.
I've been with them for oh,probably 11 years by now.
I've been the vice presidentfor 10.
(06:53):
And I'm going to be voted onbeing the president next week
and it's all good.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
So thank you, yeah that's great, and tell us a
little bit about how you firstended up running for school
board or getting on the schoolboard.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Sure.
So, like I said, I grew up inthis town, I wanted to raise my
family here and shortly after wemoved back, which was it was
about November of 2007.
And as Alex was getting olderand he was going to preschool
and we're making connections intown, my wife Jamie started
(07:30):
noticing a few things and at acertain time she's asking me why
did we move here?
Because there were some thingsgoing on.
There was a group of peopleinvolved that they had
differences of opinions and Ithink that they were trying to
cut programs and supposedly savemoney to try to help people
(07:50):
save money on their propertytaxes, and it wasn't in the best
interest of kids or ourcommunity.
And I was highly encouragedabout 12 years ago to try to get
in there and do what I could do, and I'm a busy guy.
I have a very demanding job, Ienjoy coaching, I enjoy doing
(08:11):
other things.
There's only so much time inthe day, but this has been one
of the most rewarding things Icould do and I enjoy doing.
In fact, today I turned in mypapers to run again, but there
were things going on that theyweren't in the best interest of
kids or our community and I gotin there and I'm glad I did,
because we were able to makepositive choices that helped the
(08:33):
kids.
We were able to bring backfull-day kindergarten because,
alex, being in preschool,there's only so much time in the
day and when I had teacherstelling me there's only so many
minutes, they're describingtheir whole morning in minutes
and what they're trying to doand there's not enough time, and
they weren't able to do whatthey really needed to do.
And there was a lot of othercommunities that were doing
(08:56):
full-day kindergarten and I hada lot of parents saying that's
something we should do andeverybody can have an opinion
and that's fine, but is it a bigenough ask that it makes sense
to explore?
And it did so.
We had the money to do it, wehad the space to do it, it was
something our teachers wereasking for and our families were
(09:16):
asking for.
So we did and that's only one,for instance.
But I got involved because I wasasked to, but because there
were legitimate concerns at thattime.
Thankfully those concerns, andthere always will.
Because I was asked to, butbecause there were legitimate
concerns at that time,thankfully those concerns, and
there always will be some kindof concerns, but the district's
in a better place now, not onlyfinancially, but the kids are
doing well.
They're going to Lincoln wherethey're succeeding.
(09:37):
All this is about trying togive the kids a good opportunity
moving forward and that's why,if I can be a small part of that
success as silly as that maysound that's what I'm really
trying to do, because I'm tryingto make it better than when I
found it.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
And when did you first run for?
Speaker 1 (09:53):
school board I first ran 12 years ago, so yeah, yeah,
wow, okay yeah, this will be myfourth term.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
And what do you see as the biggest challenges for
the school district currently?
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Well, like anything else, there's always the
possibility of unfunded mandatescoming from the state.
There is always certain thingsthat might pop up that might
require money.
That, for the most part, isreally budgeted out pretty
diligently.
At the end of the day, thetaxpayers are trusting us with a
certain amount of money moneyand you want to make sure you're
allocating it correctly, andthat's always my biggest concern
(10:28):
is are there going to beunfunded mandates that come in
that are going to start tappinginto that, such as we have a
fair amount of, I will say,english language learners, which
are people that do not speakEnglish as their primary
language, and when you haveenough of those students in any
one building, you have to teachin their native language.
(10:50):
That's a law, while there's acost to doing that.
Then you have to deal with thespace, the logistics and if we
have to, we will.
That's absolutely fine.
But that's about meeting theneeds of our students.
But there's always going to befinancial concerns, but we have
the right people in place tohelp us forecast what those are
(11:10):
and deal with it accordingly,partly because we have a very
detailed mission and vision forthe district and helps outline
what the goals are and whatreally needs the attention, so
the money can be allocatedappropriately.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
So the money can be allocated appropriately.
How do you feel that, or howcan the Board of Education best
communicate with constituents orthe public?
Speaker 1 (11:32):
That is always the million-dollar question, because
we have a lot of people in ourcommunity that don't have kids.
In our school we have aroundnumbers, about 1,550 students
all in and we've got a communityof approximately 20,000 these
days.
I mean, it used to be three,but I think now it's around 20.
And if they don't have a kid inthe district, how do they know?
(11:54):
Do they want to know?
And there's information on thewebsite that's public facing.
Anybody can see it.
One of the ideas I have had,which we're in the process of
trying to think through, is thevillages sending out their
monthly water bills, and I'vealways thought if we can have a
small portion of that, itdoesn't have to be all that
(12:15):
often, but it goes to everybody.
They're trying to fill thespace anyway.
But could that be a way sopeople that don't have kids in
the district can still have arough idea how things are going?
And that's an idea that we'reexploring but it's not finished
yet.
But trying to effectivelycommunicate to everybody.
Yeah, they can go to thewebsite, that's absolutely true,
(12:36):
but you try to meet them wherethey're at, and that's why I
came up with the water bill idea, because everybody gets it, you
know.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
So talking about kind of the wider constituency and,
like you said, not everybody hasa kid in school, absolutely.
You kind of hear the argumentevery now and then People will
say, hey, I don't have kids inthe school, why should I keep
paying property taxes?
Good question.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
And there's two parts to it.
For starters, whether peopleknow it or not, we all have a
very positive vested interest inthe school succeeding, because
if the school does well, so dothe property values.
If the school is not doing sowell, people aren't going to
want to move here and that'sgoing to have a big impact on
(13:25):
their property values and theability to sell their home.
I want the school to do well, Iwant the families to have a
good experience, but I wanteverybody to have a little share
of the win through theirproperty values, because it
really is a symbioticrelationship.
It absolutely is.
Now you won't be good stewardsof their money a 100% but I
(13:46):
think getting everybody at thetable is important.
We had a gentleman Mike Everettused to be mayor in this town
for a while.
He was on the board for anumber of years with us and I
wanted that.
When we had to fill a position,when our friend joined the
Lincoln Way board and he wasable to join us and then he was
able to run again, I thoughtthat was a positive thing
(14:08):
because he didn't have any kidsin the district.
His kids were much, much olderand I thought that was a
positive thing.
So it wasn't only parentssitting at that table.
I wanted that voice too.
That was important to me, butat the end of the day, everybody
has a vested interest in theschools doing well because of
their property values.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Simple as that and talk a little bit about, maybe
tell people what the actual timerequirements are being a board
member, Besides just going to ameeting.
What's the requirement.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Last night I was up there.
We were having professionaldevelopment, because that's
important.
You want to make sure you'rekeeping up on the new trends.
You're trying to make sureeverything is being communicated
effectively, what people can dobetter, etc.
So I worked all day and I wasup at the elementary school from
6 to 9 last night.
Then I got up early and wentback up to work and here I am
(15:02):
with you.
In an average month you get theboard packet on a Friday,
approximately 300 pages, andsome of it is the same things
you're going to see month in,month out, like the budget, like
the bills that correspond tothe budget, and they're all tied
into the strategic plan.
So you know where it's going togo for the most part, and
(15:22):
you're going to spend a fairamount of time reading that,
thinking about it, askingquestions about it, dealing with
the follow-up.
So, in addition to the meeting,which can be approximately you
know, call it three hoursroughly starts at seven every
once in a while it'll be donebefore 10.
There's plenty of times itdoesn't get done till after 11.
(15:42):
Plus the reading of the packet,plus all the other time it
takes to do things.
Yeah, it's a fair amount oftime, but in my opinion it's
time well spent, because youwant to make sure you're looking
at things correctly, you'relistening to people, you're
trying to make sure you'repaying attention to the right
things, so you're doing theright things.
Right it is.
(16:03):
It is a time commitment andit's one that, if I'm being
honest, I don't spend a wholelot of time thinking about as
I'm going through it, because II spend enough time thinking
about time.
Otherwise, like we're atpractice for two hours, we got
an hour until we got to besomewhere because of something.
This is it's it's borderline oflabor.
(16:24):
I love that you don't.
You don't really want to thinkabout too much how much time
you're putting into it, becauseit adds up quick.
And then you're walking throughBurkotts or Meyer and people
want to talk to you, and that'spart of the game too.
That's okay.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Funny, though, how you find the time to fit the
things in your life that you'repassionate about, and that is
major takeaway.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
I mean, you and I are roughly the same age when we
were growing up.
There was a phrase I'm sureit's still out there when
there's a will, there's a way.
And the truth is, when I gotvolunteered voluntold whatever
to get involved in this, youstart wondering how am I going
to make time for that?
How am I going to do it?
How am I going to do it?
And I'm of the opinion if youreally want to figure out
something in life, chances areyou're going to figure out a way
(17:06):
to do it, and if you don't,then any excuse will cut it.
But yeah, it's definitely aprocess, but it's one I like.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
One of the things going on right now that is
extremely important to thecommunity is the process of
finding a new permanentsuperintendent.
Yes, so talk a little bit aboutwhat that process is like and
the things that you want to seewhen you're looking at
candidates for superintendent.
That's fine.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
So some of this because we're actively going
through the process.
Some of this is closed sessionmaterial.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
And you can keep it in generalities.
Yeah, and I will.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
I will, but in short order.
We hired a professional searchfirm to help us find and vet
candidates.
And that search firm has a verywide pull because they are
listening not only to the board.
They're listening to the admin,they're listening to the
teachers, but they're alsolistening to the community
members, because that wasimportant to me and others I'm
(18:07):
not trying to say it was just meit was important to a lot of
people on the board to make surewe had community input.
Now all those groups cometogether and they help work with
the search firm to have an ideaof what would a successful
superintendent look like inMokena.
And that's a process rightthere Now, from there, and
(18:28):
essentially they're going out,they're searching, they're
talking about our community,they are trying to show people
why they should be here.
But we're also trying tounderstand who we're really
looking for to be here.
We're not looking for a brandnew person.
We're looking for someone withmore experience, someone that
has an idea of really what'sgoing on in a K-8 district,
which is what we have of reallywhat's going on in a K-8
(18:50):
district, which is what we have,and then from there we're going
to have about six candidatesand then the board's going to
interview them.
There is going to be andthat'll be, two rounds right
there, three and three, and thenwe're going to be having the
community involved in one ofthose interview processes,
because I care about what theythink as well.
(19:14):
I'm always of the opinion, evenif I think I've got a really
good idea, chance are it can geta little bit better.
So let's figure that out too.
But then from there we're goingto narrow it down to the final
two and, from what I understand,we might have something to
share approximately December,january, without going into too
many details.
(19:34):
But in all honesty it's a fluidsituation.
When we're at the board meetingin November, whenever people
are watching this, that's whenwe're going to be learning more
about who the potentialcandidates are and what their
strengths are, and trying tofigure out who could be the best
fit for our community, basedupon what our community is
(19:55):
really looking for.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
And one of the issues is the fact that we're looking
for another superintendent.
Dr Cohen was only here for fouryears.
I think the expectation wasthat he would be here longer.
And Don White before him alsohad a shorter term, I think,
(20:22):
maybe than was expected or hopedfor, but I know there were
other issues.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Well, no, there's no secrets here.
I'll tell you what's going on,because this is not privileged
or confidential.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Yeah, so that's what I like to you know what's going
on, what changes need to be madeso that we can have a
superintendent in place that'sgoing to be in for a longer
period of time.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
I'm looking for someone that can build into
longevity.
I want someone that'll make along-term commitment to our
community, because I thinkthat's important.
I'm not looking for a bridge,I'm not looking for a three-year
deal.
I'm looking for someone thatwants to come in see where we're
at and can always help improvethings and can try to do what's
(21:05):
in the best interest of kids inour community.
Now, as far as Don is concerned, he's a great guy.
He is.
I'll tell you guys that firstoff, originally, it was going to
be a three-year deal and, quitehonestly, we were lucky to have
him.
It's kind of like getting aMercedes on a Ford budget.
He's a good person andultimately, when it came time to
(21:25):
his retirement plans, certainthings came up and he had to
leave us in year two.
Quite honestly, we knew wewould have to be looking at the
next steps and it was part ofthe game it is.
There will always be change andyou have to be able to adapt.
The Merck situation, quitehonestly, was surprising and I
(21:48):
like him as a person.
I think he did a lot of goodthings for our community, but it
was a surprise when I found outthrough an email on a Monday
night.
I was not anticipating that.
He had a contract, he was beingpaid, he was doing a lot of
good things and then, ultimately, he made a decision that he
thought was in his best interest.
(22:09):
And I don't pretend to know theins and outs of exactly why he
did what he did, other than, inmy opinion, it wasn't necessary,
and I think he's a good person.
I think he did a lot of goodthings for our community and
from there you know, likeanything else, you have to adapt
.
You know things happen in life,so we're going through the
(22:34):
appropriate steps, thankfully,when we needed an interim Steve
Stein is a good guy.
He's got a good background whenI started with the I almost call
it the firm when I started withthe school, he was a
superintendent at that time andhe did the onboarding for myself
and the other three boardmembers at that time, and he did
the onboarding for myself andthe other three board members at
that time, one of which is AnnaBriscoe and she's running again
(22:55):
and she's a great person.
We're lucky to have her too,but Steve's a good guy and I've
kept in contact with him overthe years.
I would see him at the annualconference that we're getting
ready to go to later this monthand it was always a very
pleasant thing.
So when we knew Mark wasleaving, and on rather short
notice, we needed to find ainterim superintendent that
(23:17):
could give us that bridge for ayear, so we were not rushing
into a decision that would havemajor impacts on our community
and our students.
I don't like rushing things.
I generally think taking ameasured approach is a better
way to do it.
But Steve's a great person andwe're lucky to have him and he's
going to help give us just thatsteady hand to get things going
(23:43):
for the next year and then thenext superintendent whoever that
person is will have a nice,solid foundation.
And because they've got goodpeople around Kristen Johnson is
a wonderful assistantsuperintendent, terry Shaw is a
great financial person on ourdistrict and we have a lot of
(24:04):
other good people as wellBecause ultimately I want a good
team that is going to succeedfor the best interests of kids
and I want that longevityBecause I think it's going to
succeed for the best interestsof kids and I want that
longevity because I think it'simportant.
I'm not looking to be a steppingstone up to a high school
career because in all fairness,I can understand people wanting
to extend their careers.
(24:25):
I totally get that.
That's part of the game too butI'm really looking to find
someone that will have somelongevity here.
That's one of my goals, andit's a goal shared by a lot of
people in that room, to behonest.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
So do you think you're able to address what the
issue was?
Do you feel there's an issue atthe board that would cause him
to leave, or do you just feel itwas a personal decision and so
be it?
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Well, the answer is I can't tell you exactly why he
did what he did, because Ididn't know he was doing it.
He didn't consult me, didn'task me.
I got an email on a Mondaynight about it.
So, whatever the potentialissue was if there was one never
talked to me about it, nevertalked to the rest of us about
(25:20):
it.
For all I know, he was here andhe had a different opportunity
that came along and that's whathe decided to do.
I would hope that it was notbecause of some kind of internal
issue.
I would hope that it was notbecause of some kind of internal
issue.
I would really hope that's notthe case.
I can tell you I always had goodexperiences with him.
(25:40):
He's a decent guy.
He's in the Lions Club, youknow.
I would see him, I would talkwith him outside of the school
setting and he always had goodthings to do for these kids and
I liked that when we had thepancake breakfast and he's out
there working, kids would comeup and want to talk to him.
I think that's a good sign ofsomething.
(26:02):
So, yeah, this was unforeseenand it's not what I expected,
and I'm not going to tell youI'm happy about it.
I'm not going to infer anythingbeyond that because, quite
honestly, it had nothing to dowith me.
I went in there the day after Igot that email and I went into
the school that morning and Ishook his hand and I wished him
well because I thought that wasthe class act to do, regardless
(26:24):
of my personal feelings.
You know, at the end of the day, people are going to do what
they choose to do because theythink it's in their best
interest and we have tounderstand that is part of the
game.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Yeah, well, it's a hugely uh important search, so I
hope that goes well for theboard and the right person comes
forward to fill dr cohen's uhshoes, because he, uh he played
a very big role and was a verylarge figure in multiple ways in
(26:56):
the school district, so he isdefinitely missed.
So good luck in that wholeprocess.
I only wish him the best.
Same here the school districtaccounts for me for about 35% of
my property tax bill.
Yeah, so tell me and tell ushow can taxpayers be sure that
(27:18):
the school district is spendingtheir tax dollars in the most
efficient way possible?
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Well, and that's a real good question, because if
you look at the state ofIllinois and if you look at
specifically our community, theschool is largely paid for by
the Mokena taxing residents theyare.
We get very little money fromthe state and very little money
from the Fed.
So ultimately, I am beholden toeverybody I'm walking around
(27:44):
town talking to at Burkotts andevery place else, and I want to
be a good steward of their taxmoney.
So how do we do that?
For starters, I believe intransparency.
People can see the budget,people can see where money is
spent.
When the referendum was passeda couple years ago, part of that
process that was very importantto me was to clearly
(28:06):
communicate why we're doing it,which was to keep the buildings
warm, safe and dry.
What are the issues?
So we have before and afterpictures so people can see
exactly what's, which was tokeep the buildings warm, safe
and dry.
What are the issues?
So we have before and afterpictures so we can see exactly
what's going on.
But any of those processes arealways put out for bid once
there's enough money and if Itell you, I believe the state
required number is $35,000, Ibelieve I'm correct but, quite
(28:29):
honestly, once we're looking tomake any major expenditure.
We're not just going throughthe motions.
We have a whole sealed bidprocess because we have an
objective and I want to makesure if somebody comes in and
wants to look at things, theycan feel good about that.
And when we just passed ouraudit, which they came and
(28:50):
talked to us at our Octoberboard meeting we just passed our
audit, which they came andtalked to us at our October
board meeting we got the bestrating you could possibly have,
which is on a scale of one tofour, four being the best, and
that's what we got.
They looked through ourinternal controls, they looked
through how we were doing thingsand they gave our people a
great grade.
And to me that's important,because when you're dealing with
(29:11):
other people's money, youbetter have enough courage to
make sure it's spent correctly.
Now we may have a difference ofopinion on what that means
about a certain topic, but forthe most part, you want to make
sure you're using other people'smoney wisely, because I think
that's important.
I think that's why the biddingprocess is important, because
you want to make sure the moneyis being spent wisely, because
(29:34):
I'm paying it too.
You're sending in two checks ayear.
I'm not telling you to feelgood about spending it, but our
community is actively supportingour district and to me that
trust needs to be rewarded andit is because when you send our
students to Lincoln Way, thestudents are doing well, they're
(29:57):
succeeding, they're thriving,they're doing we are doing the
right things right.
So these kids are getting takencare of and that is really the
biggest testament on how.
If we were having audit issueswhich we're not different story.
But the audits are routinelyclean, the internal controls are
(30:17):
doing just fine and you want tomake sure the money is being
spent wisely.
And if there's questions, cometalk to us.
That's okay.
The community can submitquestions, whether they're at
the meeting or not, and thebudget is always on display for
30 days at a minimum andhonestly, it's on display twice,
because there is an originalbudget in the fall and then
(30:40):
there's an amended budget in thespring, because by then you
have a better idea of the realtax money dollars are coming in
and you have some a better ideaon what the expenses are and you
try to true that up.
You make sure you're doing theright things right, because to
me that's very important.
With my financial background.
I think it's important thatpeople have trust that the money
(31:02):
is spent wisely, and that'sjust very important to me.
It's real.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Another very important thing for all parents
is safety.
Yes, so talk about how canparents be sure, when they send
their kids to school, thatthey're going to be safe.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
That is a great question and there are certain
things that I can share here andcertain things I think
everybody can understand.
I will not be sharing and Ikeep that very close to the
chest because to me safety isimportant.
I want the children to be safe.
I want the families tounderstand that there are things
(31:43):
in place to help maintain thesafety of the schools at every
level.
That is very important to me.
That is very important to me.
I can tell you that we haveinput from all the local
departments that you would thinkwe'd have input with.
We have a detailed plan on howto handle certain situations,
(32:04):
knowing it's always going to bea fluid situation and when
certain things happen.
If you have a general guide andthe right people involved to
try to maintain safety and so on, then you've got a higher
likelihood of success, becausewe're talking about kids and
(32:33):
we're talking about the plans ofthe school.
But I will tell you there aredetailed plans in place to try
to keep these kids safe and howto deal with certain challenges
as they present themselves andand those plant, and that
strategy has worked out prettywell.
Nothing is ever perfect, butsafety is very important to me
and I will tell you that theright people are involved to
(32:56):
help make sure our schools aresafe so the kids can learn the
way they should be withoutworrying about so many of these
crises in the outside world.
I want the schools to be safeso the kids can focus on
learning.
They can focus on being aroundtheir friends and trying to make
the best out of their schoolday.
I don't want them worried aboutsafety and security issues.
(33:18):
Quite honestly, that's our job.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
What do you feel is the role of the board when it
comes to curriculum?
Speaker 1 (33:27):
At a certain point, our job as board members.
To give you an analogy, let'slook at it like this the board's
objective is to supply themission and the vision to the
district.
It's up to the district tosupply how they're going to meet
those goals.
They are a response for theends of getting the job done.
It's almost like if we weregoing to fly somewhere.
(33:48):
I don't care where it is, it'sour job to pick the destination.
It's our job to think of thosekind of things.
I am not the pilot flying theplane and I am not the engineer
making sure everything's runningcorrectly, nor am I the other
parts of those components.
So how do we handle curriculum?
We hire the right people and weput them in place and we make
(34:10):
sure that they have the rightbackgrounds, the right pedigrees
to understand not only iswhat's in the best interest of
kids, but where are ourchallenges and what can be done
to make it better?
So is Jim picking out the nextscience curriculum?
Not really, because that's notwhat the board does.
We can be asked about it andconsulted about it, especially
(34:35):
if we're thinking about making amajor purchase to expand a
curriculum or to changesomething.
But if we're looking at onetextbook versus another.
Quite honestly, that's KristenJohnson's job and she does a
really good job doing it.
Part of the challenge with allof these things is complacency
is an ugly creature and itdoesn't work.
So you'll always have to beevolving.
(34:57):
There is always new things tolearn.
There's always new materials,strategies, tactics, etc.
Because the teachers have thetechniques, they have the
talents.
In my opinion, it's the schoolboard, through the
administration team, to givethem the tools to succeed.
So Chris and Johnson and thestaff are actively working on
(35:21):
evolving the curriculum andtrying to make it better
curriculum or an Englishlanguage arts curriculum,
because ultimately our statescores are important, not that
you're teaching to a test, butthere is a measuring effect and
(35:41):
if there's things that we can dobetter, our team is already
looking at those and trying tofigure out what can they do to
help.
So it's a fairly detailedanswer, but the quick and dirty
of it is if you put the rightpeople in place to do their jobs
.
That is what their job is.
I am not going to micromanagethose kind of things because
(36:04):
that's not really what the boarddoes.
I don't get involved at thatgranular level.
To me, it's more about puttingthe right people in place who
have those designations that canhelp take care of these kids
and support the teachers throughthings like professional
development and the additionalcurriculum supplies they need,
(36:26):
etc.
So ultimately the kids get theexperience they should be having
.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
So ultimately, the kids get the experience they
should be having.
What do you feel is the bestway to address differences of
opinions between board members,as well as differences between
the board members andadministration?
Speaker 1 (36:45):
I think that there's two things you can do right off
the top.
Part of it is to understandyour role in this dance, and
when I was brought onto this,steve Stein and this is very
common in the education worldthink of a high school dance,
like when we were all kids.
You got the kids down therehaving fun or at least trying to
(37:06):
talk to somebody, and, if theygot a little bit of courage and
then you've got the other peoplestanding in the balcony keeping
an eye on what's going on.
The board members are designedto stay in the balcony.
They have a basic idea ofwhat's going on and they're
trying to pay attention tothings, but they're not involved
in the minutia of the detailsand understanding.
(37:30):
That helps compartmentalize.
Whose job is it to do differentthings?
Because if there's some kind ofan overstep one way or the other
, that can lead to friction andbeyond that, generally people
may not always agree, and that'sokay.
But if people talk honestly andopenly about what's really going
(37:51):
on, they they may still notagree, but they might understand
more about why somebody thinksthe way they do, and that I've
always been of the opinion.
If people had three quarters ofthe information they think they
need.
They can get the other quarterby listening to others and
trying to bridge that gap.
So if you and I were having adiscussion on something, chances
(38:14):
are we're both going to come atit from different angles, but
we're going to have differentinsight on it and the hope is at
the end of that conversation,no matter what it is, we're both
better off for it and we canwork the problem.
You want to be soft on people,but you want to focus on the job
at hand and usually if you'rereally focusing on what are we
(38:36):
really trying to accomplish andwe're both being open and honest
on how to deal with it, even ifwe have a difference of opinion
, hopefully we can figure outsomething on how to deal with it
.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
So right now it looks like there are going to be
eight candidates for 159 schooldistrict.
Yep.
Tell us why we should vote foryou.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
Well, I grew up here.
I moved my entire family backhere because to me that's
important.
I like the community.
I wanted my kids to have a good, solid education and I got
involved because I thought itwas just that important and
we've made positive stridesalong the way.
The full-day kindergarten thatwas a great thing for the
(39:20):
community.
There has been other thingsover the years that people have
brought up to me and I've triedto listen and help and to me
that's why I want to keep doingthis, because I have more to
give.
I enjoy the work.
Some people will say this is athankless job.
The truth is I get morepositive feedback than anything
(39:40):
because of how I'm trying toapproach it and I like doing it.
And sometimes that's dealingwith challenging situations and
challenging people and that'spart of the game too, but I
enjoy the work.
I think our school district isbetter off because we have that
solid financial backing, becausewe are being responsible with
other people's money and becausewe are doing what's in the best
(40:02):
interest of kids.
And as long as we follow thosebasic things, we're going to be
on the right path.
And there are some people andI'm not going to say anything
about anybody, because it's notmy style.
I'm not going to do it, but Ican tell you that I enjoy the
work.
I know that the fellow boardmembers that are running along
with me Lisa Zielinski, annaBriscoe and Eric Bush have put a
(40:25):
lot of time and have a veryvested interest in seeing our
community succeed, and they alsoare running with us because we
all turned in our packets thismorning and are you running as a
slate together unofficial slateor what?
You know that is that's more forfor trying to figure out things
in the spring, and that's notany.
(40:47):
We haven't really had thatdiscussion.
To tell you true, at this pointmy biggest question was do I
want to keep doing this?
Because it is a large timecommitment, but the kids are
better off because of it andI've been of the opinion that if
I do a good job for others,it's going to work out for more
(41:07):
people just fine.
I mean, I'll always rememberwhen I was board president a
couple years ago, there was this, this young lady.
She came up and she startedtalking to us at the board meet
and that takes a lot of courage.
And she's standing there at themicrophone with her piece of
paper and she's like you know,we got baseball teams, we got
all these teams.
We don't have a real softballteam and i'm'm like you're right
(41:29):
, we don't.
And I'm looking over at DrOlenaitis, I was looking over
our previous superintendent orchief financial person.
I'm like okay, guys, if this isinteresting, what does it take
to get off the ground?
Well, do we have enough kidsthat want to do it?
We did.
Do we have the financialbacking to do it?
Do we have a teacher that wantsto get involved?
(41:49):
Do we have a coach?
We have all of these things wedo and they did, and they built
that team and they did well.
And the reason any of this makesa difference is because I am
involved in other operations andI like that.
And one of the fringe benefitsof all of this is I have gone up
to Lincoln Way on scholarshipnight and whether it's the
(42:11):
Mokena Burroughs, whether it'sthe Illinois Junior Celtics,
whether it's the Mokena Lions,I've given away a whole bunch of
money to help these kids and Ilove that.
But she came up to me andlooked at me like you probably
don't remember me.
I'm like, yeah, I do.
You're the reason we gotsoftball to junior high and I
got to be a small part of thatsuccess and then she got a full
(42:34):
ride off to college to playsoftball, which was really
awesome, and she had thatopportunity.
And all of this is about givingthese kids an opportunity and I
think that that's incrediblyimportant and that's why I want
to keep going, because I likethe work and because we're doing
(42:57):
good things for kids and thecommunity.
So I enjoy it and I want tokeep doing it if people want me
to and I can tell you, I had alot of people that reached out
that wanted me to do it.
I got more signatures on mypetition and I had more great
people helping me out, and whenthere's a lot of things going on
in life and you got a lot ofpeople pulling for you, it makes
a difference.
So, yeah, yeah, I absolutelylove it.
We've got a lot of good peopleand a lot of good things going
(43:18):
on and I like being part of that.
I like trying to help where I'mable to.
Speaker 2 (43:23):
So one of the things that's important to any leader
is the next group of people thatcome up behind you, and getting
good people to take the reins.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
What is something that you?
Speaker 2 (43:35):
would say to people that would consider running in
the future for a school board orother boards?
What would you tell people?
Speaker 1 (43:44):
Whether they're running for school or they're
running for another position,whether it be the community
board or the park district, etcetera, you're always going to
need good people and there'salways reasons not to do it
because it's hard.
It's hard to get up there andhave the courage.
It's hard to get up there andlisten to everything that's
(44:05):
going on, because sometimes youmight have a very vocal minority
, and sometimes you might have avery vocal minority and
sometimes you might have a realproblem and you're trying to
figure it out.
It takes courage to getinvolved and that's hard If
you're trying to do what's inthe best interest of the
community, and by that I meanwhat if you're with the park
district or the school oranything else?
(44:25):
What are our ultimate goals?
What are our systems in placeto get that done and what does
it really take to succeed?
I want there to be that success.
I want people to come alongafter me and they will
ultimately see this is what wedid.
Not that they have to recreatethat, but this is a good, solid
foundation that they could growon, and one of the best things
(44:47):
they can do, in my opinion, assimple as it sounds is try to
listen and help.
That is so important to me andhow I do things.
Because if they're reallylistening and that can be hard
sometimes if they're reallylistening to what the community
is telling them, that shouldhelp guide their efforts.
Sometimes people want to get inand they think they can take on
(45:12):
the world and they think thisis a one-person show.
It's not.
I am one voice of seven, andarrogance and self-awareness do
not go hand in hand.
But if you try to do what's inthe best interest of the
community, chances are you'regoing to be just fine?
because you always need goodpeople that'll step up and that
(45:34):
will always be a challenge,because there's a million other
things I could be doing with mytime, but I like this.
It's been a good thing and I'mhappy to keep doing it, but I
want it to continue to exist, tosucceed, long after any of us
are onto something else.
Speaker 2 (45:51):
Well, I appreciate you talking to me and I
appreciate the years of serviceto our community.
Just give you an opportunity ifthere's anything else you want
to share or say as we wrap up.
Speaker 1 (46:03):
Well, thanks for doing this.
I've never done something likethis before.
It's different.
I mean, you got the lights andeverything it it's fun.
But I think this is a goodthing because I want our
community to be able to hearfrom us, and they don't need to
come sit at the board meeting,they don't need to watch the
live stream.
But what people do matters andthe the impacts people have when
(46:28):
they vote matters, and I'm herebecause it does matter.
It matters enough that I wantto keep going.
It matters enough that I wantto be part of that success for a
while longer.
And it matters to me because Igot a lot of good people telling
me we want you to keep going.
So I'm going to, and if that'swhat people would like me to do,
please support me.
(46:49):
And that's wonderful and, andI'm of the opinion, a good idea
can come from almost anywherewithin reason, because a lot of
the big ideas we've worked onwere not.
Jim had a great idea aboutsoftball.
We had parents talking aboutkindergarten, we had people
(47:09):
trying to do what's in the kidsbest interest and ultimately,
that's what I've tried to do.
I mean, years ago when I gotinvolved, it was so expensive
for families to do sports.
It was almost $250 for kids toplay junior high basketball and
I thought that was ridiculous.
I don't care if the family'sgot money.
I wanted the kid to have theopportunity and everybody's got
(47:32):
to pay something no one needsfor free, but it's a flat fee of
50 bucks and I had peoplecoming up to me at Halloween
Hollow shortly after it happenedgoing.
My kid can do volleyball andcross country and all this, to
me, is about giving kids anopportunity and I like being
part of that success.
So that's about as simple as Ican make it.
You try to do the right thingsright to help kids and help our
(47:56):
community, and it's about thatsimple, really.
But anybody's welcome to talkto me.
You know whether they see me ontown, whether they you know
what they want to email me.
Well, whatever, be my guest andwe read them all.
When people email the board, weread them all because you're
trying to make sure you arelistening to people and truly
(48:17):
understanding what's going on.
Speaker 2 (48:18):
So thank you for listening to me.
Well, thank you very much, jim.
I appreciate it.
Be sure to check out ourwebsite, subscribe to our
YouTube page.
You can check out all of thecandidate interviews.
And be sure to vote on April1st.
Thank you.
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