Boards & Commissions Supporting Documents - 02/21/1991 - Bath & Tennis Members' Committeei •
FE8 2 !j i991
40 Chatham Lane
VILU GE OF G`Ai.1\ BRO&K, IL. Oak Brook, Illinois
Village Board
ADMINISTRATION Feb.15, 1991
Oak Brook, Illinois
Trustees:
At your meeting of Tues., Feb.12,
discussion of the Sports Core deficit as i-
Tennis. As you may recall, the discussion
For this and other reasons, I felt it best
at that time. I hope you will not mind if
in this manner.
I responded to the
t relates to the Bath &
became rather heated.
not to explain further
I complete my response
First, I would like to explain a problem I had representing the
B &T committee on this topic. When President Cerne became angry
that Trustee Winters was speaking on a subject the rest of the
Board was not prepared to discuss at that time, I could
understand that because I felt that I was in a similar position.
The Golf committee chairman stated that they had met the previous
Thursday to discuss the deficit and the proposed surcharge and
prepare their response. It was not until I received my copy of
your agenda in Saturday afternoon's mail, that I even knew the
subject was going to be discussed. On Monday morning when I was
able to reach Mr-McAdams, he explained the situation to me. He
said that the Golf committee would be recommending the use of
Village funds to make up the deficit. They would also say that
if a surcharge was necessary, the B &T members should pay one,
too.
These are important issues. But under the Illinois Open Meetings
Act (as I understand it) we could not meet prior to your meeting
so we could discuss it. It probably would have been difficult
any way with less than 24 hours to get everyone together. When I
telephoned each member of the committee, some were very upset
that you would be discussing such an important issue and we would
miss the opportunity to participate in an organized manner.
Without full committee discussion the only consensus opinions I
felt comfortable expressing in an open meeting were those I tried
to state.
1.A daily surcharge is really not applicable to the B &T due to
our fee structure, further complicated by the fact that our
annual fees had already been approved, published and, in some
cases, paid.
2.Financial problems at the B &T are not due to flooding since
it did not cause us to lose any membership revenue or incur any
large expenses.
3.The committee is very anxious to be fiscally responsible and
would welcome the opportunity to present a thoughtful response.
Inevitably, every discussion of the Sports Core turns to what a
financial drain the B &T is. The committee anticipated this and
urged me to stress our willingness to address this issue. We are
preparing to report to you on financial matters but these are
complicated issues that we choose not to comment on until we have
done our homework. But I stand by my comment that we have
questions on financial and accounting decisions.
It is very difficult to sit quietly by while we are characterized
as "freeloaders" (my word) over and over again. But when a
Trustee joins in this and implies that this is our desire, or
worse, our fault, then it is just about impossible. The notion
that B &T members are in any way responsible for the current
financial situation is absurd. We did not make the decisions.
We did not set the fees. And it was not our responsibility to
monitor the expenses. What the members did was to pay the fees
we were asked to pay. When we perceived there was a problem, we
stepped forward and volunteered to help. And when you gave us
that opportunity, we focused our attention on finding solutions -
not scapegoats. Please understand that we are not willing to
fill that role should it become available.
I am going to ask the committee to put a greater urgency on our
financial report and recommendations. With Trustees Bartecki's
help, I am sure that we can clear up any questions. Because I am
aware of how valuable his time (and all of your time is), I will
ask the committee to draw up a list of questions and specific
items we would ask him to look at. At the same time I will ask
the committee to pull togther our recommendations and report so
that you will have them very soon.
If any of you have suggestions
could be more helpful to you on
please contact us.
cc:All B &T committee members
Steve Berley
Chuck McAdams
or comments on how this committee
this matter or in the future,
Sincerely,
Starr Pitsch
57a- 5 i