>> A long-awaited fieldhouse plans to make toxic lakefront land into a public park.

And new efforts to address homelessness.

Those are among the items in the Chicago Park district's new budget which is set for a final vote next month.

Joining us to discuss it is Chicago Park District Superintendent Carlos Ramirez.

Rosa, thanks for joining us.

Welcome back to the show.

So this is a 637 million dollar budget and it closes a 30 million dollar deficit.

The largest since the pandemic.

How did you manage to close that when we entered this budget season, we face a 30 million dollar budget deficit that was driven by rising personnel and maintenance costs, but also by decreasing state So the personal property replacement tax, which is one of the past $2 we get from the state.

>> So that pose a real challenge for the park district.

But I'm very proud to say that we were able to close that gap without layoffs without compromising service to our patrons and without having to cut the court functions of what the park district does.

So we identify deficiencies.

We made reasonable and modest revenue adjustments and we responsibly use our tip surplus dollars.

46 million dollar surplus for next year in order to balance our budget and to keep our programming accessible, affordable and of course, to keep the parks, there is a stable resource for families.

This plan budgets for a new staff member that would be aimed exclusively at.

>> Addressing homelessness in the parks, which has been, you know, very contested issue in recent years.

What do you envision their job will entail?

That's a really great So unfortunate.

We have seen an increase in homelessness across the nation and Chicago is no exception.

And we expect that with some of the cuts happening at the federal level that we're going to see that increase year to year in the coming years.

And so what we really want to make sure that we're doing is that the park district is a key and lead agency and affection waiting the city's 5 year plan to address homelessness.

So the city's chief homeless officer said the Soto she's been working with the Department family support services.

She's been working with the state.

She's been working with local advocates to develop this plan.

It's near the final stages of development and will be announced early next year.

And this staffer will work to ensure that we have coordination with the Department family support services.

That coordination is already occurring.

I'm part of that coordination.

Our deputy chief of operations as part of coordination, numerous staff members in the park district are part of coordinating those efforts.

But this staffer will really take it to the next level and make sure that we're helping to connect Chicagoans experiencing homelessness with housing.

But also that we're making sure that our parks are safe and accessible for everyone.

Yeah, I mean, to that point, you know, encampments and parks have drawn criticism from from some neighbors from some officials, including after >> fires along the North Shore Channel.

You know, a lot of advocates and folks who are living in the park say they don't necessarily feel like they have somewhere safe to go.

How do try to balance those concerns?

We have decades of research that show that housing is the solution to homelessness.

And we also want to make sure that our parks remain accessible.

And so we have been working through a working group model.

So we've been op pulling our staff internally.

We've been also meeting with stakeholders externally and we've been looking at best practices nationally to really figure out what's the best direction for us to go.

We know that if encampment is impinging on park programming, if it's near a playground, if it's near homes, those are instances where we need to take action.

But we want to ensure that we're also reducing recidivism.

So, you know, before closing encampment, we want to make every best effort that we can to connect those individuals with housing and shelter.

So they just don't end up in another park.

This budget includes a 25 million dollars for a new Ogden Park Field.

House long-awaited project there in Englewood.

Some of the funding actually came from a personal aide from state Sen really Preston grew up playing there.

>> Or their future opportunities for more collaboration with Springfield to help from these sorts of projects.

Absolutely.

So we are so grateful to our partners in Springfield, from the governor on down for their support for infrastructure improvements.

>> You know, when you look at these infrastructure improvements and these new capital projects that we're bringing online at the Park district, it really needs a lasagna, a fund to different leaders, a funding.

So we have, you know, obviously tip dollars coming from the city.

We're so grateful to the mayor and Alderman David Moore for championing of this project.

We also have capital dollars coming from the Park district budget and then of course, dollars coming from a state of Illinois elected as well.

So to that capital funding stack, we were able to accomplish moving towards the next stage for this project, which is the design phase for Ogden Park in Inglewood.

It's a historic fieldhouse.

But in the 70's, they really just messed it up.

So that community deserves a beautiful brand new field house.

And that's exactly the design process that when to kick off next year.

Now that we have the funding necessary to actually get the project done, lasagna funding.

I'm going feel there's also half a million dollars earmarked to turn the Calumet Park Disposal area which has long used by the U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers.

It's going to become a lakefront park.

The court dropped plans to expand that site after legal challenges, which imagine, you know, a lot of folks in that community are excited about how much work is ahead to clean that site up let the park district we are committed to environmental justice and environmental sustainability and you can find dispose of 43 acre site where Kelly but Harbor Lakes meets Lake Michigan and it's been used and created through the dumping of dredge material.

So we need the Army Corps to continue to dredge.

We need them to go in there and to be able to keep the Calumet clear so that the port of Chicago can operate.

But a promise was made decades ago when that site was first created, that once that site was it would be transitioned into a park unfortunate under the prior mayoral administration.

That was an attempt to expand the life of that facility for decades.

More.

But I'm very happy that advocates working with Mayor Brandon Johnson working with the Park district.

We have been able to come together to say no, that expansion will not take place.

Instead, we're going to do what was promised to the community decades ago and we're going to transition that facility into a park.

So that planning process going to start next year with money from the Chicago goes Together Fund, which is a new fund.

We're launching for equitable infrastructure improvements on the south and west sides using part of our 46 moved It's a plus with funding from that TIF surplus.

And the Chicago got a fun.

We're going to set the planning process for New Park Kelli Harper next A lot of folks are looking forward to it.

You know, some of Chicago's pools had abbreviated seasons this year due to lifeguard shortages.

What's the park district looking to do to try and prevent that from happening Well, we should be very proud of Chicagoans at the Park District operates the largest lifeguard program in the nation per capita.

Only New York City has more lifeguards and but they have many, many more millions of residents.

We staffed 23 beaches over 26 miles.

And those beaches are open from Memorial Day until Labor Day.

That's our first priority.

And then, of course, we staff 70 plus.

Pulls in our neighborhoods.

And I'm really proud that we have been working to expand a lifeguard explores program.

So budget for next year continues.

That expansion in the late part sports program is a program for young people in our neighborhoods that need to learn how to swim, want to learn how to swim, but also can then become lifeguards.

So we help prepare them to take the lifeguard test.

That program has had success year after year.

It's helping us diversify our life guard force that's helping us provide opportunities for young people to have a great summer job.

So I'm really proud that this summer was the first summer since the pandemic that we opened up all of our poll, 7 days a week and committed to continuing that success.