Rob Metzger has resigned from the Park District of La Grange board of commissioners, according to a letter from him read aloud by President Tim Kelpsas at a park board meeting Monday night.
Rob Metzger at a park board workshop for Gordon Park held in May of last year
Metzger, a former park board president who has been a commissioner since 2002, cited professional and family demands as his reasons for leaving the board.
"This job requires a lot of dedication and perseverance," Metzger wrote in his letter dated Jan. 21. "I simply do not have the required bandwidth to be a productive member of the board."
Metzger has frequently missed board meetings in recent years due to the travel requirements of his job. He was absent again Monday night.
In his letter, Metzger said his resignation will become effective once the board has chosen someone to serve out the remainder of his current term, which expires in April of next year.
While expressing pride that the board had accomplished "a lot" during his tenure on the board, Metzger, he singled out only his greatest disappointment: Gordon Park.
"While I am proud of what we accomplished, I am equally disappointed that we have been unsuccessful in completing the redesign of Gordon Park, which I believe is the greatest need that the District has."
Gordon Park's redevelopment has been stymied for more than two years as legal action taken by various residents has prevented the District from selling 2.82 acres of the park to developer Atlantic Realty Partners for inclusion in its planned redevelopment of the former Rich Port YMCA parcel.
Park officials were counting on the proceeds from that sale—some $4.5 million in cash and another million dollars or more worth of landfill and landscaping—to build new ballfields and other recreational amenities on the park's remaining 14.5 acres.
"I am hopeful that my replacement can pick up where I left off and continue the efforts that will be required to see this milestone through to its proper conclusion," Metzger wrote.
Kelpsas said Monday that Metzger "added a great amount of voice and momentum to this board and has given it great direction. It’s sad to see him go."
Metzger joined the park board in 2002 when he was appointed to fill a vacancy. He was then elected to the board in 2003 and re-elected in 2007. He also served as its President from 2004 until stepping down from that post last year,
A reasoned voice with the ability to look at issues without a preconceived plan/plot, Metzger will be sorely missed.
Wanna bet that the master plan is/was to have someone named Brogan as the Metzger replacement. Bob Brogan's outburst probably stymied that plan.
You Just Watch...the Metzger replacement will certainly be another Kelpsas/Penicook apologist and supporter. Those two just want another head nodder not an independent thinker.
They'll try and position this post as the rantings of the anti-Gordon Park sale crowd, so for the record I support the sale. What I don't support is an increasingly secretive board that has mismanaged the Gordon Park sale from the very beginning costing this community time, resources and money.
You Just Watch.
Posted by: You Just Watch | February 10, 2010 at 02:07 PM