Malloy takes park seat unopposed
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

Although it won't be necessary for Mark Malloy to run in the November election for the seat he occupies on the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District- Malloy was the sole candidate to file by the Aug. 11 deadline for the two-year term and automatically wins the seat-he regrets not having a forum to publicize the issues.

"Officially he gets appointed in lieu of elected," Deputy County Clerk Virginia Bloom said, adding that it makes no difference in the term length he serves.

She expects the board of supervisors to confirm his appointment sometime before November.

"I'm sort of disappointed, actually," Malloy said. "I was looking forward to talking about what I think the district needs ... I kind of lost my forum for that now that there's not going to be a campaign."

Malloy said mounting personnel and labor costs have affected the district's bottom line and programs that once brought in revenue now lose money. The district needs to take a deeper look at its role in the community and should critically analyze its goals and how it operates and allocates money, he said.

Take the renovation of 37year-old Pleasant Valley Pool. Malloy said nowadays residents have other options for swimming, such as the YMCA. Even some housing developments have pools.

The board should be weighing the high cost of maintaining the pool against the need in the community and asking "Is that what we ought to be doing?" he said.

"Do we still need one pool or are we assuming we need one pool because we've always had one (year-round) pool," Malloy said.

Because James Reser is not running for his present seat on the board, two candidates took advantage of the extended filing deadline. Business owner Gary Cushing and Carol Schau, a waitress and housewife, filed by the extended deadline of Aug. 16, joining three other candidates running for two four-year term seats on the board.