McAdam Leaving Park District for Downers Grove
The executive director is the second high-ranking official to resign in as many months.
Bill McAdam, the longtime executive director of the Oswegoland Park District, has resigned and will take the same position at the Downers Grove Park District.
According to an email McAdam sent to staff and Park Board Commissioners Tuesday morning, his last day with the District will be May 4. McAdam began with the district in 2003.
“While I am excited to take on a new challenge, it is difficult to leave a district that has at its core one of the finest most dedicated staff in the industry,” McAdam wrote in his email.
McAdam’s resignation follows closely that of Margaret Gienger, the former superintendent of marketing, who last month accepted a position with the Park District of Highland Park.
“It’s a sad day for the park district, but a great day for Bill and his family,” said Bob Mattingly, Park Board president. “I’m really happy for him. This new job will be 10 minutes from his house and a nice raise financially. Contrary to what some say, this is not the highest paying park district around.”
McAdam, who lives in Lemont with his family, was earning a salary of $127,000 in Oswego. The Downers Grove position could pay McAdam up to $160,000, according to the online job announcement.
According to a news release issued by the park district, McAdam began his career in parks and recreation at age 14 when he worked a concession stand with the Lemont Park District. He received his undergraduate degree in parks and recreation, and master’s in public administration from St. Francis University in Joliet.
With PrairieFest just a couple of months away and the recent resignations of two top officials, Mattingly said he is not worried staff turnover will lead to problems with the planning of the district’s signature event.
“Bill has a great team in place to take over, and I’m sure they will handle things just fine,” he said.
As for finding a replacement, Mattingly said he will discuss a timeline with his fellow board members soon.
Editor's note: McAdam could not be reached for comment in time for publication of this story. Should he contact Patch, his comments will be added to this story.
David Edelman
1:04 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Why do we keep losing people in our various local government positions? Seems to be a concerning trend here lately?
Jane Enviere
1:25 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Eh - not unusual to see people move on to bigger and better things. Especially when you look at the well established communities that these 2 will be/are serving. Is it rocket science to get a likely pay increase and erase your commute? Fantastic on both counts!
Good luck to him! I'm sure the park district will soldier on just fine.
Paul Lark
1:51 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
More importantly, why does our Park Board President need to make it political.
I agree Jane, he made a great decision when it comes to his family by applying for and getting the job so close to where he lives.
David Edelman
1:55 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Dont think it is that easy of a reason Jane. There is a direct relationship in keeping well qualified people and paying them accordingly. People dont want to do that right now in Oswego. Will we save money - I guess so, will it cost us down the line - more than likely. But yes, we will move forward and find ways to improve. This cant keep happening at the rate it is with the schools and now the park district. You get what you pay for. We cannot act like a new community for very long at this rate....
Jane Enviere
5:47 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
I think the park district does an outstanding job and we are huge supporters of their progams. We've been in everything from preschool to sports to dance to art and back again.
The guy is likely getting a nice bump and working close to home. Again - great for him! I've found myself in that situation before and much as I enjoyed my team and what we had accomplished, I shed no tears in making a change. I doubt many community members are going to be excited about paying more for almost anything when so many families continue to struggle and recover from economic losses over the past few years. All we can do is work with what we have and move on!
I also think it's likely that Oswego is viewed as a "stepping stone" type community for a lot of our public-type positions. A smaller (albeit a fast-growing) community way out west (truly how much of Chicagoland views us), but I'm sure there are capable individuals here and elsewhere who will be interested in the opportunity.
Kudos to the park district -- we enjoy all that they do and have found it to be a great value!
Tony Salerno
2:01 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Congratulations to both Bill McAdam as well Margaret Gienger on their new endeavors.. They have both been instrumental in the success of the Oswegoland Park District over the past several years. We are fortunate to have others still in position to continue current and future projects. I would like to see the Bob Mattingly and the Park District Board look internally for Bill's replacement. Tom Betsinger has been Bill's right hand man for years and has been with OPD for many years. Again, good luck to Bill and Margaret and Tom has my vote to fill Bill's shoes!
Dave
3:53 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Tom would be an ideal candidate, he knows the program, is personable and very professional. I add my support to adding his name to the hopefully short and internal list.
Cattlehauler
2:01 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
I would like to see someone who grew up in Oswegoland Park District get the position. After Ford Lippold, Bert Gray, this gentleman seem fairly aloof when I encountered him. He didn't even live here?
TLC Carpet Floors and More, Inc.
2:26 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Maybe the next person should be more commited to Oswego by living here and having his family here. Just a thought.
Carol Anaski-Figurski
2:30 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Good luck to you both. Interesting the raise is huge are you building the same dd program there as you did here to capture a new market? i know some funds come from the taxpayers for the park district could we perhaps consolidate a few and still have some remniant leadership? How does it work?
mike ellison
5:46 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
This is why you need to have a requirement to have these high-paid executives live in the District. It's a really basic requirement that has been overlooked far too often. How nice of him to bail out just before Prairiefest.
Ralph
6:36 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
You would like to limit the available candidates to just those folks who live in town? Kind of odd. Do you really expect someone who lives out of district to be able to sell their home and move to Oswego?
mike ellison
5:52 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Also, Mr. Mattingly got in his smart alec comment about Mr. McAdam being underpaid.
His statement is extremely ignorant considering that Downers Grove has a median housing value that is about $90K higher than Oswego and a median income per family that is also about $20K higher.
Obviously they will be paying more for a director than what Oswego can afford. Are we suppose to match the offer of larger and more affluent districts? Is this intelligence of the guy who is actually running the Park District board?
Ralph
6:40 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
"extremely ignorant" - pot...meet kettel.
You have obviously never meet Mr. Mattingly. Such a silly comment.
mike ellison
9:17 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Ralph- yes, his comment that insinuates that we are losing McAdam because he is underpaid is indeed ignorant. He wants us to ignore that we cannot compete with larger and more wealthier districts, when in fact, McAdams local salary was competitive with other districts with similar demographics.
I'm also aware of the very signficant problems at the OPD that have occurred under his watch- not the least of which is the out of control spending. Anyone can run a gov't body is they have no restraint on spending. It takes a real professional to work within the means given to them by the taxpayers.
I'm in the mobility industry. It is extremely common for executives, especially those in gov't jobs, to have a residency requirement. Many times, there are relocation benefits involved with such a transfer. We can already see the failure of the OPD to institute such a policy. Both Margaret Geinger and Bill McAdam cited their preference to have a job closer to home.
Dave
7:02 am on Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Mike - his comment is more likely a rebuttal to the campaign rhetoric directed at him and some other park district board members about having the highest expenditures. He was pointing out that contrary to the criticism during the campaign and afterwards, the salaries paid to our staff were not some of the highest around.
Clark Grswald
11:04 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
First, I think Ellison needs to re-read the article. Martingly does not say that McAdam was underpaid. He says that contrary to the belief of some (like Ellison) Oswego is not the highest paying Park District around. True statement.
Second, the park district has done an effective job in keeping costs under control. Don't take my word for it, go to the Kendall County website and compare the park district portion of your tax bill from 2002 to 2010. You will see that unlike the other taxing bodies, the park district taxed LESS in 2010 than 2002. The Forest Preserve's rate increased 10 fold over that same time span.
mike ellison
12:28 am on Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Clark-- you fall victim to the same old tax scheme that has been fooling people for years, and one that the Oswego Ledger also likes to fool people with. The tax rate sometimes went down during that period because there were more new houses being built and assessed. So despite the rate going down, more taxes were actually levied against those homeowers. They were not saving us any money during those years. It's just that more people were sharing the expenses. My tax bill for the OPD went up by $40 from 2009 to 2010. Now that new construction is pretty much halted, you'll continue to see rising tax bills as a result of rising expenditures.