Plainfield Park District Could Have New Director By July: Commissioner

• Watch video of the April 1 Plainfield Park Board meeting

Candidates could begin applying for the Plainfield Park District executive director job by the end of the week, according to commissioner Mary Kay Ludemann.

Ludemann said the job will be posted by late this week or early next week, with an application deadline of May 19.

The position has been vacant since late January, when Garrett Peck resigned. Peck is also a current Village of Plainfield trustee. He was hired last May in a controversial move that bumped former Superintendent of Planning Cameron Bettin from the job, which he was originally slated to take over upon the retirement of longtime Executive Director Greg Bott. 

In late May, board members voted to amend Bettin's contract to make him the assistant executive director, while Bott's contract was also altered so that he retired six weeks earlier than scheduled.

Now, the board is paying the Illinois Association of Park Districts (IAPD) $9,490 to conduct a search for Peck's replacement.

A committee made up of Ludemann, fellow commissioner Janet Silosky, interim Executive Director Gene Coldwater, retired executive director Bott and board attorney Matt Campbell put together qualifications that are being used by the IAPD in the search.

Ludemann said job candidates could be presented to the board by the first week of June. According to IAPD's schedule, the board would then interview candidates in mid-June, and a new executive director could be hired by July 17.

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