James Crowley, a 24-year veteran of the Wilmette Park District, who led the board twice and who served through several major projects, has resigned his seat less than three months into his seventh term.
His resignation is effective today.
Crowley, 65, resigned because he and his wife moved to Northbrook and he is no longer eligible to serve, he said. Park Board President John Olvany and district director Steve Wilson said they received his resignation letter on July 24.
The board will review its legal options on replacing Crowley, Olvany said, but will probably opt to fill the vacancy quickly.
“In theory we could leave the post vacant until the next [park board election in 2017], but I’d like to fill the position relatively quickly, because I think a seven-person board is a better operating environment than a six-person board. However, I don’t want to rush the process,” he said.
Olvany praised Crowley, saying the former board president focused on serving the entire district community during his lengthy tenure and was “a fountain of knowledge and experience.”
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“I didn’t know him when I first came on the board, but now I consider him my friend,” Olvany said.
Both he and Wilson lauded Crowley’s respect for district staff members.
“He always took the time to get to know all the staff at our facilities. He’d stop and talk to staff at the front desk and learn their names, and he’d remember those names,” Wilson said. “Whether they were a maintenance person or a soccer coach, he made them feel as if they were important, because he knew that what they did was important.”
In his resignation letter, Crowley in turn praised district administrators and staff, calling them “wonderful, bright, dedicated professionals. Together you embody the best of what we all want to be.”
Commissioner Bryan Abbott said Crowley took “the long view” on Park District issues. Abbott also noted Crowley’s ability to make a point: “He wasn’t afraid of having an opinion and doing what he thought would improve the parks.”
Crowley served on the board for almost quarter of the district’s history, Abbott said, and was involved in many of its biggest issues.
Those included the 1995 purchase of Bell School and its development into the Community Recreation Center; a $10 million referendum in 2000 to rebuild Centennial Park’s outdoor pools; and the 2002 referendum to fund and purchase the Mallinckrodt property, followed by its subsequent development into a park.
Crowley downplayed his accomplishments.
“There are so many people who are smarter than me on the board, whether it’s in finance, legal issues or anything else,” he said. “I think I’d sum everything up and say that the game is played by the people who showed up, and I showed up for 24 years – and I think the Park District has won more games than it lost.”
In his retirement letter, Crowley addressed his former colleagues, urging them to “set your performance bar high and then raise it a bit higher. Try to keep your private agendas private, focus on the big picture and treat staff the way you would want to be treated.”
Crowley asked commissioners to respect each other, then added, “When possible, perform random acts of kindness. Who knows? It might just catch on and become an epidemic without a cure. Now wouldn’t that be something?”
Abbott, who was occasionally at odds with Crowley over the board’s progress on the now-halted lakefront master plan, said, “He wasn’t always happy with me, but I respect the hell out of the guy. It’s a big loss for the district.
“I’ll be cheering for him. I don’t know how many resolutions and plaques we can come up with, but the man deserves every honor that we can bestow on him.”
kroutliffe@pioneerlocal
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy
Quarter century of service
Who: James Crowley
Where: Wilmette Park District
As: Commissioner
Tenure: 24 years