We all know it’s a tough job market; there are many more hopefuls than there are openings.
The competition is so steep that nearly everyone will try to doll up their resume to make themselves look more suited than perhaps they really are. That’s pretty much to be expected. But savvy employers assume this is the case and take it into account when making their hiring decisions. And so it is with our local elections.
There is but one opening to elect a new commissioner for the Great Neck Park District and there are four candidates vying for the job. We voters are the employer here, and it is up to us to look behind the hype to get at the real truth. Simple jobs don’t need much prior experience to get the hang of things; tough jobs, complicated responsibilities are a different matter. We need to see through the resume enhancements to determine which candidate can really do this job for us.
Who has been working as an active volunteer and chairman of an advisory committee for over five years? Marty Markson. Who has the sophisticated business experience (as, among other things, a former chief operating officer of a globally recognized company) to guarantee he can manage our money? Marty Markson. Who has the educational background (as both an expert engineer and an MBA graduate of NYU’s Stern School) to both recognize potential infrastructure problems and to keep a tight rein on outside consultant costs? Again it’s Marty Markson.
The job of park commissioner has evolved so much over the past decades that it is unrecognizable from the small, quaint operation of yesteryear. To quote a phrase, “This ain’t your father’s park district.,” so don’t treat it that way. In order to protect our wonderful parks from bad management, unfocused business practices or the threat of outside consolidation, we voters absolutely have to be the grownups. We have to insist on advanced qualifications, not advanced resume writing. We voters have our park district’s fate in our hands, so I hope you will run to the polls on the 13th to vote for Marty Markson.
Elizabeth Allen
Great Neck
