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player ready...More than a dozen Wilmette residents put their names in the hat as potential replacements for former Wilmette Park District Commissioner James Crowley, park board Director Steve Wilson said. Now the board begins the process of whittling that number down to one.
Wilson said former park board members Gary Benz and Mike Murdock are among those interested in filling Crowley’s seat, a position that would last until the April 2017 election.
Also submitting their names are Jasmine Hauser, a former Wilmette School District 39 board candidate, and Mark Weyermuller, a tax issues advocate who is a regular speaker at park district, municipal and school board meetings in the Wilmette area.
Wilson said all six current commissioners will be part of the initial winnowing process and in the final decision.
Each commissioner will be assigned to interview some of the applicants by telephone, he said, before meeting together in closed session as a committee of the whole – which can’t take voting action – to narrow the list to a handful of finalists.
Wilson said board members would be matched, as much as possible, with applicants with whom they are not familiar.
“People have voiced concern about the openness and transparency of the process, so we want to be clear that no actions can be taken by the committee of the whole,” Wilson said. He said the committee meeting might be on Sept. 16. After that, the board would hold the in-person meetings, again in closed session.
Thereafter, according to information on the park district’s web site, the board will set a final closed meeting date in October to deliberate on the finalists, before meeting in open session to take the final vote on Crowley’s replacement.
Park board officials learned earlier this summer that they would have to appoint a new commissioner when Crowley announced that he was resigning, effective July 31, because he was moving to Northbrook.
For a complete list of those hoping to be appointed to the park board, as well as an outline of park commissioner duties and a copy of the questionnaire that applicants filled out, visit www.wilmettepark.org.
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy