Jesse Madison, executive vice president of the Chicago Park District, denied Friday that he has serious policy differences with Park Board President Walter Netsch that are hindering district operations.
The two were tapped by Mayor Harold Washington last June to reform the park district, which the mayor had criticized as bloated with patronage workers and unresponsive to the public.
In response to published reports that there is friction between Netsch and Madison as well as lack of progress in making reforms, Madison told a park board meeting:
”I would like to reassure the public that media statements to the contrary not withstanding, Walter Netsch and I are working together on a reorganization plan. Walter Netsch and I are working together for the betterment of the Chicago Park District.”
At this point board members and spectators burst into applause.
While Madison appeared angry, Netsch, presiding over the meeting while wearing a bright red sweater, responded light-heartedly.
”I`ve got on my red sweater,” Netsch said. ”Tomorrow is Valentine`s Day. Now let`s all celebrate it that way.”
Madison said after the meeting that his comments were directed at various media reports of conflict between Netsch and him, and not as a direct response to a story in late Friday editions of The Tribune in which both men acknowledged in separate interviews that they have difficulty working together and have sparred frequently. Recent efforts by other park officials to bring them together appear to have had only limited success.
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And, despite the denials of friction, Madison repeated some of those comments reported in The Tribune story about his differences with Netsch during Friday`s board meeting.
”Walter Netsch and I disagree on positions,” Madison told the board.
”We are both strong-willed and bull-headed,” he said, using the same expressions he had used in the interview that were part of The Tribune story. ”We will continue to disagree both privately and publicly.”
But insisting that the two share the same goals, Madison added, ”I hope the press would not keep playing that up. If two people can`t disagree, what is the world coming to?”
Watchdog groups that cheered the promise of reform last June when Netsch and Madison were named and former Parks Supt. Edmund Kelly was outsted, now contend that the district has made only marginal headway. Some blame this on feuding among district officials including Netsch and Madison.
Less than two weeks before the mayoral primary, some district officials are saying privately that the fallout could harm Washington`s re-election bid on the lakefront, where passion for the parks runs high.
”The fear is that it will hurt the mayor, that this will look like another Chicago Housing Authority,” said one high-ranking park source. ”It looks bad that the mayor`s appointees are squabbling among themselves.”
”Walter has a temperament that is unsettling to some people. It`s just his way,” Madison said said in the earlier interview. I think I can convince people of my position, he thinks he can convince people of his. It`s a tug-of- war over positions.”
Netsch, during his earlier interview by a Tribune reporter said: ”I don`t really think Jesse is a bad person and I think our motives are in the same ballpark. But he comes at it as a political animal and I as a
professional animal. That`s a problem.”
Exacerbating the tensions is an effort by one park board member, Washington appointee Rebecca Sive, to replace Netsch as president of the five- member board. Sive declined comment on this, but a park official said, ”I wouldn`t say she wants the presidency. I would say she`s actively campaigning for it.”
Netsch, a retired architect whose appointment was seen as a boost to Washington`s lakefront standing, said in the published report that he has been ”embarrassed” by Sive`s efforts. His frustrations at the park district have led him to draft ”the most beautiful resignation letter you`ve ever read,” a letter he has come close to delivering ”several times.”
”I`ve been discouraged,” said Netsch, former design chief in the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. ”I`m discouraged by the gossip, by the lack of activity, by the slowness in naming real park professionals to appointments here. When I took this job I had no idea it would be so political.”
Asked if the park district had met its publicly stated mandate of ridding the agency of patronage and installing recognized park experts, Netsch said:
”If I told you that answer I think I would affect the election and I don`t want to do that.”
Sources said Netsch has been angered that Madison recruited several City Hall employees to work at the park district because Netsch regards the hirings as political and because he was not consulted.
Park district attorney George Galland is drafting an ordinance to limit Madison`s hiring authority and give the board more say–a result of a recent private meeting of park officials that was called to address the animosities. Galland and Madison also said that they are committed to civil service testing of park employees but that the drafting of exams for about 4,000 workers is costly, time-consuming and should not be done until a
reorganization plan is in effect because some job categories may be dropped.
”The fact is that Jesse and Walter share the same goals,” said Galland, ”and that`s why what`s been happening here for the past few weeks is so sickening.”
According to sources close to Netsch, the board president has decided to maintain a low profile until after the Feb. 24 mayoral primary. But if Washington wins, Netsch is expected to force the mayor and Madison into a showdown over the scope of his authority and resign if he is not convinced they share his vision for the parks.
”I do not want to retain a presidency of conflict or status quo-ism,”
said Netsch. Madison and others say Netsch is impatient in his demands for change.