the children's chorus PAYS RENT on an office just south of roosevelt road. doesnt that make them residents? and furthermore, they ARE a non profit. finally, the fact that they are holding open auditions in novemeber tells me that enrollment is down. besides a lousy economy they are now competing with more sports than have ever existed on the face of the earth. ask glenbard 87 how much choral enrollment is down.
i say, let them keep the resident rate. our park district can build a taj mahal at ackerman, but messes with groups like this?

Didn't want to appear that I cared too strongly about this one way or the other. And I certainly have not been a fan of too many GEPD moves recently.

In the abstract, yeah, I think the chorus is a good thing. But I really don't care too much, as to the best of my knowledge no one in my family has ever participated or attended an event.

In response to my comment on residency requirements someone commented that softball isn't chorus. You are right. In my opinion my softball teams were vastly more important, and contributed far more to the quality of my life, that this chorus. I'm sure many folk feel differently - or may have other organizations/activities they value more than this chorus.

But I DO believe there ought to be a consistent policy for use of GEPD facilities by NFPs. Does any group qualify for residents' rates simply by obtaining a GE mailing address? I honestly don't know. Could a county-wide sports program obtain preferential access to our fields or the Taj Mahal by stetting up a PO Box?

So I guess when I said a line must be drawn, I essentially meant a clear and consistent policy should be established and followed. Which does not seem to be among the PD's strongest suits.

Is it considered prefential access because they're getting resident rates when they should legally be considered residents??

FWIW, many of you working in the corporate world know that when a more than nominal charitable donation is made to a nonprofit, usually the nonprofit has a tier of 'benefits' that accrue to the donor - number, location and size of ads or acknowledgements, perhaps some sort of preference given to employees of the donor, etc. If the Chorus is doing that, I can see giving them residential rates might be worthwhile, assuming we have a similar policy for other nonprofit groups.

However, my condo association has had meetings at the Civic Center, which we paid for - and we are certainly a not for profit, residential entity, located in GE proper. That's why I think the Chorus should adhere to the same policy being applied to all nonprofit groups regarding qualifying percentage of residents, whatever that might be. Perhaps the Village should be reviewing all governmental entities for some sort of adherence to a reasonably consistent rule regarding residency.

And simply having a corporate office in GE doesn't cut it for me - get a P. O box or a tiny office and qualify for resident rates? Then you get resident discounts at the Park District facilities? Does that even make sense?

From what I saw on their website, the Chorus has always prided itself on open auditions, turning no child away, across the Chicagoland area. I'm certainly not saying their mission isn't a worthy one, just saying that we needn't cut a break without some sort of consistent acknowledgment across the board that, in a perfect world, accrues to the benefit of GE and its residents.

I don't get the hub-bub here. The PD has a rule on their books. They need to enforce it. I personally don't care if, in the end, they charge Anima the resident rate. But I DO care that they apply their rules equally across the board. Should they make an exception? Yes. But they should do it the right way, by either relaxing the rule on the books for ALL groups, or by inserting some "discretion of the Director" or "discretion of the Park District Board" into the language of their policy. While such discretionary wording could be abused for "pet" groups - at least it would be on paper and thus legitimate. I just don't want our elected Board or our Director to apply (or in this case - waive) their own rules willy-nilly.

There are legitimate avenues to resolve the issue in Anima's favor - I would just call on them to follow them.

quote:

Originally posted by GESingleMom2:
Is it considered prefential access because they're getting resident rates when they should legally be considered residents??

I do consider residential rates to be preferential treatment.

I do not know exactly what is involved in an NFP or other organization "legally be[ing] considered residents". Do you?

Do the GEPD's rules distinguish between NNFPs and for-profit enterprises? Ought they?

MI87 brought up some great points about the wording of the rules....

However, I think the primary issue being argued here is more or less whether or not Anima should be considered a resident.

Din, I apologize as I think preferential access is not the correct wording for what I was thinking. And no, I do not know what is involved in an NFP being "legally considered residents"....I do, however, know what I think it should be. As far as I'm concerned, any business (NFP or FP) that conducts business in a particular geographical region and has a legal street address in said region, should be considered a resident of that area.

i agree middle, they could also use a grandfather exemption. i highly doubt there is a waiting list for the spaces they currently use. cut them a break as a grandfathered group.

GESM2, I personally don't think that a group being "registered" or even "based" in GE should give them any particular privileges. I think Anima gets the love because of the history and because a plurality of their members are from GE.

But consider a club or association that is technically incorporated here, maybe has an office here, but whose members are 99% from outside GE. Should they be able to rent meeting space at residential rates? If you click on the Google-run "News" link in the top right corner of the GEBB, you'll often see press releases from the Bearing Specialists Association. They're over on Roosevelt and are basically an association for people who sell bearings. I just can't see extending residential meeting room rates to a group like that. Assuming they're a non-profit association as most are, would they be all that different than Anima? Would you be OK with that?

I agree with you that Anima gets the love because of their history and associations with GE.

In answer to your question, however, I would be ok with the Bearing Association that you mentioned getting residential meeting room rates since they are located in, and do business in, GE. Why should it really be all that different than individual residence rules?

I guess because the real beneficiaries of allowing that could primarily be non-GE residents. I mean, I would hate to see a "real" GE club not able to get a room because some other group with only a slight GE connection reserved the place months/a year before them. If, however, the District wrote up such a change in policy, I would assume that they would consider the likelihood of that possibility. Heck, a club I'm in might even be able to benefit from it. GE people represent about 1% of the membership, but I'd love to have meetings closer to home...

I don't want to make too big of a deal about this. But this does seem to recall many decisions made by our Village leaders, be they in zoning boards, chambers, and now the GEPD, where the decisions seem unwelcoming and unfriendly to business being located here. I recall years ago when zoning and signage rules were strictly enforced and disqualified Glen Ellyn as a site for national chains. After all, it was argued, we don't want national chains like the GAP and Limited. For some reason, Starbucks fought through the issues and did locate here. I think this further strengthening the views of those who felt our Village was so special that those businesses should be willing to change their standards to fit ours because they would be lucky to be located here. Not that long ago, many of those chains looked at both Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, and Naperville as being close to the same thing. Naperville became business friendly attracted businesses both local and national. We did not. Maybe now, and maybe too late, we will start to think of our town as needing business and even NFP's instead of the other way around. If we do not think that way yet, how many more empty store-fronts and empty rooms for rent do we need?

I agree that rules is rules. Yet, when the rules drive businesses elsewhere, maybe the rules should be changed. This residency rule based on the kids in the chorus instead of the location of the chorus offices (not some PO Box), is one more example.