Profession: Assistant Landscape Manager/Shea Properties

Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Landscape Horticulture, Colorado State University.
Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from University of Denver.

Family: Married, Christine, two children, Finneghan,3, Kelsey, 1 ½

Organizations: Christ The King - Parishioner
Eagle Scout

Experience: No previous elected office

Why Running: Being the youngest of six children in a family raised by parents that have always been active in the community, I am compelled to start giving back to the hometown that I have enjoyed over the past twenty years. The facilities provided by the District helped to steer me into an active lifestyle. Through various athletic endeavors and the lifestyle I lead I have competed around the country and abroad (occasionally finishing on top of the podium).

Now as a family we enjoy the playgrounds, the pool, the occasional concert at the lake, tumble bugs, and many more of the facilities and programs provided through the District. I am running for the Board to ensure that these opportunities continue to be provided at a high standard at a fair cost. Without Evergreen Parks and Recreation I probably would not have had the opportunity to toe the line at the Ironman in Hawaii. For that I am grateful.

I hope you will grant me the trust to direct your tax dollars in a fiscally responsible manner. I need your vote (and five or more of your friends). Please Vote for me on May 4th. Thank You!

Top Issue Beliefs: • Property values have dropped and so will the tax revenue that supports the District. The Board needs to have the foresight to plan appropriately so that the level of service is not compromised.
• It is important to look ahead and make sure we are planning for the future and whether the facilities will continue to accommodate an increase in users.
• I believe we need to recommit to the purpose of the District. "The mission of the Evergreen Park and Recreation District is to improve the quality of life of the Evergreen community by providing a wide range of excellent, financially responsible park and recreation amenities and programs while maintaining and enhancing the area's mountain character."

Profession: Trail guide/adult leader, stay-at-home parent
Formerly YMCA recreation professional, 1989 to 1998
Former deputy director of Evergreen Park and Rec

Education: B.A. criminal justice from Michigan State University

Family: Married: Julie Callahan
Three children 18, 23 and 30

Organizations: President Evergreen High School Education Foundation (member since 2007)
Leadership Evergreen board member
Denver Kids Inc., teen mentor
Big City Mountaineers Regional Area, board of directors
Trail Guide/adult leader Big City Mountaineers 1999-present

Experience: No previous political experience

Why Running: The combination of years of operational park and recreation experience plus a life-long commitment to community service in leadership and consensus building positions will be a unique asset on the recreation board. If elected, I would be one of the most experienced park and recreation professionals to ever sit on the Evergreen Park and Recreation District Board.

My focus will be to leverage my experience, create fiscal oversight and transparency, and ensure service to the entire community.

In some programs I believe our pricing is too high. Fees should encourage participation. We need a top to bottom review of our fees compared to like facilities and programs to establish fair pricing. This analysis should be led by staff with board oversight and approval. In these challenging economic times, we need careful board oversight of our cost structure with a view to a future where our tax basis may decrease. Throughout, we need relevant, comparable comparison data.

We need to improve our service attitude. Our customers and user groups should feel welcome to approach the board and staff with their concerns. They should receive timely feedback and be appropriately contacted if changes are planned for long established programs.

The board should be reaching both south and north. Indian Hills has been an underserved part of our community. We should invest to improve the playground at Arrowhead Community Park in Indian Hills and support the Indian Hills Community Center. We should meet at least annually in this center.

Top Issue Beliefs: 1. Create Fiscal transparency and oversight:

-Set fees using proper data benchmarked against similar facilities and programs

-Establish employee’s pay scales thru an independent compensation expert

-Make 2010 budget more accessible online along with prior year actual results

-Post board meeting minutes timely and reflect pertinent comments made by citizens

-Prepare for anticipated drop in property values and resultant revenue decreases

-Ensure all expenses are appropriately monitored and approved


2. Commit to a sense of service:

-Treat non-profit user groups (Sports, Arts, Drive Smart, Senior groups etc.) as partners

-Communicate in a timely manner to all constituents

-Make timely decisions on programming and share the decisions with impacted partners

-Balance the attainment of revenue with the tenants of community service

-Maintain the small town feeling of community (ex. Bring back Halloween lake event)

-Respect the long term investment made by community non-profits (ex. Drive Smart Skate the Lake event)

-Treat staff with the respect they deserve implementing fair performance practices

3. Buchanan Park

- Treat Buchanan Park as a community wide asset

-Determine best usage based on community wide needs survey tempered with other data sources

-Take into account needs and concerns of local residents surrounding the park

-Separate the debate surrounding an arts center from the commitment to art in our community and recreation district

-Explore the expansion of the Buchanan Recreation Center with multi-purpose space which can accommodate art classes expanding on the model of current non-profit relationships (ex. Audubon usage of the Evergreen Lake warming hut)

Profession: American family Insurance agent 18 years

Education: Bachelor's Degree, Business University of Colorado at Boulder

Family: Wife: Beckie
Son; Mark 11
Daughter: Hanna 7

Experience: Political experience, other than father was mayor of Aurora

Why Running: I believe children should be involved in sports at an early age for many reasons. EPRD should play a critical role in promoting all kinds of sports, and should make it financially feasible for all young adults. Football, baseball, lacrosse, softball, etc. should not have to pay thousands of dollars to utilize Evergreen’s fields.
The current board of directors should not spend the entire $7,000,000 allocated to them by the generous tax payers of Evergreen every year. When a surplus arises at the end of the year, the Board of directors should not give every penny away in bonuses like they did in 2008. The three incumbents have a special agenda of their own, which is to build an art museum at the cost of millions
to the Evergreen tax payers. I purchased the Evergreen Sports Center (tennis bubbles, Lewis ridge road & HWY 74). I converted one of the bubbles into a multi sports center so kids would not have to travel down the hill in the winter to play football, baseball, softball, lacrosse, basketball, tennis, and golf. If you or your family have enjoyed an activity in the sports center this winter then vote for me. Remember the alternative was to tear down the tennis bubbles and build an office depot and commercial strip center. I have done more for youth sports in the last year than all three of the incumbents in their four year term.

Top Issue Beliefs: No art museum. Assistance yes, but not at a cost of millions.

Profession: Former director of special needs recreation program,
Former faculty member Metro State College of Denver in recreation
30 years in parks and recreation specialty

Education: Ph.D. in natural resource, Colorado State University
Master’s degree, University of No. Colorado, recreation and parks
Bachelor’s degree Penn State in parks and recreation.

Family: Married, Will Chester

Organizations: Evergreen Recreation and Park Foundation, president (2006 to present)
Colorado Park and Recreation Foundation, board member (1996 to 2006)

Experience: Elected to Board of Directors of Evergreen Park and Recreation special district, 2006 to prese

Why Running: Parks and recreation has been a lifetime career for me. I have a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and a doctorate…all in parks and recreation. In addition, I have worked in parks and recreation for over 30 years. I started out leading and building special needs recreation programs. Later in my career I worked in parks and open space programs. Most recently I taught parks and recreation in a nationally accredited college program for the profession. I have the expertise, the good health, and the support of friends, family, and citizens to be able to run for this office. Since I embrace the value of public service and I have a lot to offer to this community, I have decided to seek a second term.

Top Issue Beliefs: There are three issues that I will be addressing in this campaign. First, the District needs to develop and deliver services according to best practices in parks and recreation, rather than the method of meeting the demands of one special interest group over another. This is to say that we must establish an equitable way of meeting public demands for services and amenities. Part of the solution is the completion of an unbiased District-wide needs assessment that should serve as the foundation for a professionally developed Master Plan. Second, The Board of Directors needs to develop a way to come to consensus on more “hot button” issues. Consensus means that we must take into account minority opinions because minority board members often represent a large group of constituents. It is not acceptable to have as many 3-2 votes as this Board has. Finally, it behooves the District to maintain and build partnerships with both non-profit organizations and pubic or private businesses. Since Evergreen is unincorporated, and thus has no other local government groups for cooperative ventures, partnerships with these other organizations enable the District to expand its services to our citizens.
The District has been through a transition in leadership from 35 years with our first Executive Director to a new Executive Director, from a traditional style of leadership to a contemporary style of leadership. This transition has predictably produced the issues I identify above. It is time for the District Board of Directors to tackle these issues.

Profession: Broker-owner, Intero Real Estate Services

Education: B.S. Business Administration, Northern Arizona University

Family: Married, 3 kids, 5, 5, and 6

Organizations: Metro List board of directors (2008-2009)
Mountain Metro Board of Realtors, (2005-2008) president (2006-2007)
Upper Bear Creek HOA board (2005-present)
Evergreen Chamber of Commerce board 2008-2009
Evergreen Music Festival board (2008 to present)

Experience: No previous elected office

Why Running: EPRD needs experienced community leaders willing to stick to the mission statement:

The mission of the Evergreen Park and Recreation District is to improve the quality of life of the Evergreen community by providing a wide range of excellent, financially responsible park and recreation amenities and programs while maintaining and enhancing the area's mountain character.

The board appears to have drifted away from the mission of the District and is headed in a direction that will place our outstanding facilities and programs at risk by committing our resources to projects outside of their intended purpose.

My experience in our community and continued exposure to residents places me in a position to listen to a wide range of our districts needs and their concerns.

Top Issue Beliefs: 1. The board needs to reconnect to the community and listen to the districts residents needs. Too much attention and power has been given to individual groups narrow interests in the past. The board’s job is to represent the entire districts needs and the stewardship of our tax dollars.

2. The findings of the recent Evergreen Community and Arts Center Feasibility Study need to be respected and acknowledged. The findings were that “There is insufficient demand to justify a new large multipurpose event space in the Evergreen area.” We need to stop throwing time and money to this issue and refocus on the operation of our existing facilities and programs.

Profession: Co-owner, Sage Telecommunications Corp.
Former senior executive of Fortune 50 company.

Education: Vanderbilt University, BA (math), MBA (Finance)

Family: Married, lived in Evergreen for last 12 years.
Mother and sister also live in Evergreen.

Organizations: Tanoa HOA,
Board of Directors, Evergreen Park and Recreation District:
Appointed in 2005, elected in 2006 for four-year term

Experience: Board of Directors, Evergreen Park and Recreation District (2005 to present)

Why Running: I believe my experience as an ex-corporate executive and medium sized business owner is unique to the other Board members and complements their backgrounds.

My business background has been and will continue to be a benefit to the District as a Board member, especially in the fields of financial analysis, employment practices, conflict resolution, and safety programs. With the current financial situation, the District needs leaders with relevant experience to be able to analysis and make tough recommendations on the financial management of our resources. Given how our revenue (ie taxes) is calculated, we will need to shore up even more resources for the upcoming years in order to have minimal impact to our users and participants.

I believe my experience as an ex-corporate executive and medium sized business owner is unique to the other Board members and complements their backgrounds.

Top Issue Beliefs: Finances – we need to balance our budget and match expenses to revenue as referenced above. Programs and fees need to be reviewed to maximize use of our current amenities

Communication – Unfortunately, our Board meetings are generally not well attended. The use of Community surveys, interviews with users, and web content are all valuable tools that the Board needs to help make operating decisions. We need to embrace more frequent and multiple interactions with the public so the Board can better represent their needs. User groups and citizens should have better access to our financials so that they can understand how decision are made by the District.

Scope of Services – Since Evergreen does not have a municipal government, the EPRD is asked to participate in activities that might not normally fit in the definition of a Recreation District. During times of increasing revenue, we expanded our programs and scope of activities. Now that revenues are flat to declining, we need to review these activities to see which are most important to the community. At the same time, we need to embrace the broad definition of recreation to include passive activities, including those targeted to our aging population. The next few years may be difficult as the District attempts to balance our services with community expectations and our financials.