UPDATED: Burros Won't Get Park District Fields

Although it reportedly has never had an official affiliation agreement with the , the Mokena Burros now want one.

But the park district, which originally sought an affiliation agreement, now says no.

"At this time, we feel it's not in our best interest to affiliate ourselves with the Burros organization," park district Executive Director Jim Romanek said.

Although the Burros never had an affiliation agreement before, Romanek said letting them use district property without one was a decision by the previous administration.

Under Romanek, who was hired last year, no agreement means no fields.

"By them not having an agreement, they're not going to be able to rent fields," Romanek told Patch on Wednesday.

He declined to comment on the reasons behind the decision.

Burros President Joe Lentz spoke to the park district board on behalf of the Burros during the park district's Tuesday night board meeting. He wants negotiations to continue.

"I ask you to work with me for the sake of my constituents—the hundreds of football players and cheerleaders of the Mokena Burros," Lentz said. "I believe we can work out our differences for the sake of the community we all serve."

Watch Lentz's full speech to the board in the video attached to this article.

Lentz declined to comment after his speech.

Beyond pledging his and the board's support, board President Dennis Bagdon also declined to comment.

"This board backs Mr. Romanek's decisions 100 percent because we know it's always in the best interest of the park district," Bagdon said.

Although the park district is now the hold-out against an official affiliation, Romanek said the district, not the Burros, made the initial contact late last year about making the long-standing partnership official.

"There has never been an official, signed agreement," Romanek said.

On Wednesday, Romanek told Patch the district presented an agreement to the Burros on Jan. 25. The Burros' lawyer returned it to the district Feb. 15, edited to include changes the park district did not agree to. 

"We did not expect it to come back all red-lined and changed and totally reworded," Romanek said. 

The district has several affiliation agreements with different groups that rent space and fields, including the MBSA, several smaller sports leagues and, as of last month, the Mokena Jr. Griffins.

The Jr. Griffins' formation has been a hot issue in Mokena, with Lentz recently telling the SouthtownStar he was "very angry with the park district" for allegedly supporting the new football organization.

Bagdon told Patch last week he had recently been "accosted" by an angry Burros official.

"It was inches away from physical violence," Bagdon said.

Updated at 11:21 a.m. Wednesday to include further comments and clarification from Romanek.

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