Lake County Gazette

Candidates for the Lake Bluff Park District Board of Commissioners spoke at the March 12 League of Women Voters candidate forum held at lake Bluff Middle School. 

Incumbents Paul Greenfield, Jennifer Beeler, and Emily Lane discussed their successes leading the park district, including preventing a land-use study that proposed turning Lake Bluff Golf Course into wetlands for overflow drainage.

“Our public golf course had close to 30,000 rounds of golf played,” Lane said at the forum. “Racket sports continued to thrive and we expanded our services to include four outdoor Pickleball courts with our partners, friends of Lake Bluff Parks. We were also able to expand our preschool program, adding another classroom to offer more to our growing community, all while following in implementing guidance by CDC, state and local agencies, and continually adopting policies to provide a safe and fun experience for all. Jennifer, Paul and I ask for your support in this election.” 

Lake Bluff Park District Board of Commissioners President Beeler elaborated on the group's successes, including how they have managed to be "ethically and legally be fiscally responsible for long-term capital needs." 

“Paul Greenfield, Emily Lane, and I are the only candidates who are sitting before you today who put in that work," Beeler said. "Rolled up our sleeves over those past four years, and we have the plans in place for the next four and beyond. What have we accomplished? $250,000 that we spent to help erosion on Sunrise Beach. We did this and so much more because we listened, we value and we include our residents from Norwood, Great Lakes, North Chicago, and Lake Bluff. This past year has shown us that any get-rich-quick scheme is going to divide our community and cost your taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. That's not us. That's not this board. We want to show you what we've done and what we will continue to do when we serve as your commissioners.” 

Greenfield added the group has accomplished a lot with the park district despite having a smaller budget. 

“Jennifer, Emily, and I have spent countless days analyzing, coordinating, reading, talking with a range of specialists in order to keep the gears moving smoothly,” Greenfield said. “There is no getting around the fact that we have the smallest tax base among the North Shore Park districts and yet have facilities and programs that compete with all of them. And while making sure we have programs and facilities that continue to meet the community's high standards, we have still been able to reduce park district debt by 42% and increase our savings from zero to over 40% of our annual expenses in just four years.” 

The slate of Greenfield, Beeler, and Lane is facing a group of challengers in Rich Martin, Constance McCabe, and Don Fawcett. Lake County Gazette has previously reported the candidates' biographies.

In addition to the golf course, the seven-member Park District Board of Commissioners oversees the Lake Bluff beach, golf course, a leisure facility and fitness center, a winter ice rink and shelter, numerous racquet sports courts, ballfields, and playgrounds. There are also ten parks and open space areas. The Park Board, in August 2022, negotiated a five-year deal with GolfVisions Management. The same firm has managed the club since 2017. Opponents to the continuation of the golf course had sought to turn the area into a nature preserve. Commissioners Greenfield, Lane, Beeler, Niki Walsh, and Scott Weber all voted to execute the deal while Susan Raymoure was the only “no” vote, according to Chicago Tribune.

That vote came after a land use study that sought to resolve pending drainage issues impacting local roadways. The 40-acre site was first developed as a golf course in the 1960s. In 2017 GolfVisions took over management of the club slashing an annual loss for the park district. The land use study offered a path that offered an alternative to having to turn the site into wetlands to contain runoff waters. 

“Another solution to Route 41 flooding has been proposed: creation of a wetland that would permanently replace the golf course,” the land-use study reads. “Under this plan, SMC would achieve its storage goal through the construction of a wetland. The Park District would receive a federal or state permit for wetland development and establish a "wetland bank." The bank would allow the district to sell "credits" for the created wetland acreage to developers and government entities that need to offset damage to existing wetlands. Following successful construction and extensive regulatory approval, these wetland credits would be sold over a 7- to 10-year period. Any net proceeds from this activity could be used for other Park District needs.”