IPRA Today

I have been busy implementing my 90-day plan. My goals for the first 30 days were:

1.    Learn more about IPRA and parks and recreation as a community.
2.    Learn the IPRA specific business functions, processes and reporting expectations.
3.    Develop relationships with board members, staff and key people.
4.    Identify areas which require immediate attention and provide what is needed.
5.    Align the strategic plan, budget and board needs with an implementation plan.
6.    Establish expectations for board, staff and myself.

Toward those goals, this month I’ve also spent time visiting with many other members, touring facilities, doing driving tours of the parks, and learning about the wide array of services that IPRA members offer to their communities all over the state.

This month I met with IPRA Board Chair John Curran at the Tinley Park Park District, Board Chair Elect Allison Niemela at the Batavia Park District, Lori Kay Paden and Jarrod Scheunemann at U of I, Champaign, Joe DeLuce at the Champaign Park District, Rick Hanetho at the Northbrook Park District, met in University Park with Ethnic Minority Section members including Keely Lewis-Childress, Gail Ito and Charles Dockery, met with Nancy McCaul and her team at the Fox Valley Park District, Patrick Kloss and Gabe Castillo at the Belvidere Park District, Dean Bissias at the La Grange Park District, met with former Executive Director and Interim Executive Directors Terry Porter, Jan Arnold and Mike Selep, participated in the Certified Park & Recreation Executive (CPRE) Exam Prep Course, participated in the Agency Showcase Taskforce meeting in Wheaton, attended the Park & Natural Resource Management Section Meeting & Discussion in West Chicago, met with C&M Section Rep. Kim Smith at the Bolingbrook Park District, met with past Chairs Robin Hall and Ron Salski, met with Peter Murphy from IAPD in Springfield, the Foundation board, the IPRA board, and of course, each member of the IPRA staff team collectively and individually. I promised to give a special "shout out" to the team at the Springfield Park District. Mike Stratton, Derek Harms and Elliott McKinley spent an afternoon sharing with me all the excitement happening with their new facility and parks.   

I’ve also reached out to quite a few other members and set up visits for the coming months. I look forward to attending upcoming meetings of our affiliate groups including SIPRA, CIRCLE, SSPRA and MIPE. If you are affiliated with a group and you’d like me to come out and meet with you and discuss ways we can work together to better serve our collective members, please let me know. I am working on a complete re-imagining of the draft "Affiliate Agreement" to identify ways for IPRA to reach out in partnership and collaboration with all of these affiliate groups.

I am also pursuing some ideas to pursue additional online services for members, beginning with making it easier to renew your IPRA membership online. We will be rolling out an improved process with our fall renewal campaign, and we are getting ready for the election process to begin soon. Watch your inbox for information or contact me directly if you are interested in running for the IPRA board. My email address is Debbie@ilipra.org

Next month I will continue to learn all I can, meet everyone I can and listen to members' concerns, ideas and challenges as they represent agencies, geographic areas of the state, sections, committees and diverse backgrounds. I want to serve you the best I can and that starts with listening and learning. I am greatly enjoying meeting everyone, listening to the needs and wants of the various constituencies and learning about all the different ways our IPRA members serve their communities. Thank you to each of you who has gone out of your way to welcome me, teach me and share with me openly. I look forward to a strong future together.

– Debbie Trueblood, Executive Director

 

I would be at a dinner party and someone would ask what I do for a living. I would respond that I am Director of Parks and Recreation for Alsip Park District. They would then ask "Is that a full-time job?" That question would infuriate me. I would think to myself, "This person does not make good use of their local park district or they don’t have a clue what it takes to operate a park district."  

I would respond with a question, and ask the person if he would ask the same question of a CEO of a small company that has a $3,000,000 a year operational budget. The usual response would be no. I would then explain the number of parks we maintain, programs we offer, buildings we manage and the number of employees we have. At that point, I usually start in with the importance of a quality park district to the community, and explain that dollar for dollar we offer the best use of their real estate taxes. Right about then, the person really wants to get away from me and warn the other guests not to ask me what I do for a living.

One thing about people in the field of parks and recreation is that we are passionate about our profession, and feel slighted when people don’t understand what we do. In the past, people thought all we did was throw out the basketballs and blow a whistle and call it a day. Some of that perception still may exist today, but to a much lesser degree.  

Over the years as a profession, we have expanded programming, built acres and acres of parks, developed golf courses, ice rinks, tennis complexes, indoor soccer arenas and many other multi-use facilities. Over the years, we have grown the profession into multimillion dollar operations, and rarely does a person ask me if that is a full-time job. We have gained a greater respect from the community. People may not always understand what we do, but they appreciate what we provide for the community and they know we work hard to address the needs of our residents.

A few years ago I was asked to serve on the board of directors for our downtown Tinley Park business district. I was told the reason I was asked to serve on this board was because the park district is always cutting edge and they needed creative thinkers – much better than being asked "Is that a full time job?"

In the 1960s park districts' major responsibility was maintaining parks. In the 1970s we increased recreational programming services, and in the 1980s we started the facility building boom which we have continued to expand into the 21st century. We can credit our success to education and sharing our wealth of knowledge with each other.  

Throughout the decades of expansion, IPRA has been there providing education and networking opportunities for professionals. It is important that you take advantage of what IPRA has to offer and continue to learn and make progress in our field. Who knows what the next few decades will bring? One thing I know for sure, is there will be a greater demand for recreational services, parks and facilities to enhance the quality of life in our communities. 

– John Curran, IPRA Chairman of the Board of Directors