PublicWatchdog.org is the only tangible remnant of Citizens for Responsible Government, an association of Park Ridge citizens formed in 2002 to ensure that our local governmental units – The City of Park Ridge, Elementary School District 64, High School District 207, the Park Ridge Recreation and Park District, and the agencies that work in concert with them – would expend public funds and conduct their operations with the same foresight, judgment and economy that the majority of our citizens would employ in acting for themselves.
CRG was guided by the following principles:
• Responsible government requires broad public participation by an informed citizenry that can be achieved only through the timely dissemination of complete and accurate information and vigorous public debate.
• Government operations must be transparent so that both our elected and appointed officials can be held strictly accountable to their constituents.
• Fiscal policies must be value-based and focused on common sense cost-effectiveness that, whenever possible, complements rather than competes with private enterprise and investment.
• Government initiatives that further special interests or place long-term demands on public resources require the highest level of public scrutiny.
• The best way to maximize the value of our public resources is through synergy and cooperation between the units of local government who consume them.
• Partisan party politics have no place in local government, which should operate free of external political influences.
During its short-lived existence, CRG participated actively in the political process, both by advocating positions on matters of public policy and by supporting those who concurred with those positions.
Despite CRG’s demise, PublicWatchdog remains true to those principles.
3 comments so far
Great principles. Sadly, I think there are far too many people who are going to need a dictionary (synergy! great word!) and a short course in civics to understand much of it. I can’t even bring myself to address the lack-luster performance of what’s allowed to pass itself off as our local Fourth Estate — “…timely dissemination of complete and accurate information…” HAH!
What does anybody know about the following. Sorry to change the subject
The newly hired executive director of the Park Ridge Recreation and Park District left his last position as park district director after being placed on administrative leave.
Ray Ochromowicz, former director of the Bolingbrook Park District, will join Park Ridge on Nov. 10, replacing longtime director Jim Lange, who announced plans to retire in March. Lange agreed to remain on the job until a new director was hired.
» Click to enlarge image
Ray Ochromowicz
Ochromowicz, who was with the Bolingbrook Park District for 22 years, resigned in April, just days after he was put on administrative leave by the Bolingbrook Park District Board for “personal reasons,” the Bolingbrook Sun reported.
Members of the Bolingbrook Park Board would not provide specifics about why Ochromowicz was put on leave, but denied his subsequent departure was based on a rumored personal relationship with a staff member or public clashes with a local softball association and athletic council, the Sun reported.
The Park Ridge Park District did not mention Ochromowicz’s employment with the Bolingbrook Park District in a press release issued today (Sept. 29). The press release stated that Ochromowicz has 32 years of experience in the parks-and-recreation field, including membership with the National Parks and Recreation Congress Program Committee, the Park District Risk Management Agency Board of Directors and the Illinois Park and Recreation Association Board of Directors.
Additional information, including the salary Ochromowicz will receive in Park Ridge, was also not immediately available from the Park District. Park District spokeswoman Kathie Hahn said she was not privy to information discussed by the board during closed-session meetings.
Park Board President Jim O’Brien and Commissioner Marty Maloney, chairman of the Personnel Committee, were both out of town this week and could not be reached for comment. A woman who answered the phone at Ochromowicz’s last known address hung up on a Park Ridge Herald-Advocate reporter who asked if Ochromowicz was available.
The owner of this site is a blowhard.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Opinions vary, as do those about anonymous cowards.
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>