Michael Gaffney – Board President

Elected as a Commissioner in April 2009, Michael has been married 29 years to Barbara and has 2 children: Megan age 26 and James age 18.

Michael is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Lansing Old Timers. He has served as recording secretary and currently as the Director of Concessions. He has helped coach both children in Girls Softball and Little League during the course of his 12 years involved with the organization.

Michael is currently employed by the State of Illinois Dept. of Agriculture, Bureau of Environmental Programs as a Field Inspector and is currently a union steward.

Michael is looking forward to forge a new, profound and mutually beneficial and cooperative relationship between local volunteer groups and municipal government here in Lansing.

Michael enjoys playing 12 inch softball on a local men’s team and working on his classic corvette.

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John Kelly – Board Vice President

John was elected to the Park Board in April 2009.  He has lived in Lansing and been married for 20 years to Lisa, and they have 4 children: Elyse (19), Sean (17), Erin (16) and Shannon (15).

During his first term he has served as the Chairperson for the Planning and Bike Path Committees.  He also serves as a member on the Finance and Personnel Committee.  His goal on these committees is to use his financial background and project management experience to create a reasonable and sound plan to renew and revitalize our parks in Lansing.  He also would like to open the lines of communication to the community and expand services and programs that are being requested. 

John is currently employed with NOKIA, as a Program Manager.  He has over 10 years of project management experience running hundreds of projects for many of Chicago’s Fortune 500 companies.   He received his MBA in Finance from DePaul University and his Bachelors in Applied Computer Science and Industrial Technology from Illinois State University.

John is currently presiding as the President of the Magic Tree Resort Board of Directors.  He continues to serve the community not only as a Park District Commissioner but also as a coach in the Lansing Lions Youth Football Program.  He has participated as a director and/or coach in many other Youth Organizations such as Little League, Girls Softball, Volleyball, and St. Ann’s Basketball. 

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Rocio M. Flores - Commissioner

Rocio M. Flores was elected as a Commissioner in April 2011. She chairs the Recreation Committee. Commissioner Flores is married and has two little girls. Commissioner Flores and her family are active participants of the Fitness Center and many recreation programs including but certainly not limited to archery, preschool (Playskool), munchkin soccer and bumper bowling.

Commissioner Flores is an Attorney and Counselor at Law, a licensed Illinois, Indiana and Florida Real Estate Broker and a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP). Her law office and real estate company Advance Realty Group LLC are located in the heart of Lansing on Ridge Road. Commissioner Flores is a member of the Lansing Chamber of Commerce and the Lansing Business Women’s Association.

The Flores’ are parishioners of St. Ann. Commissioner Flores obtained her undergraduate degree in Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her Juris Doctor from John Marshall Law School in downtown Chicago.

As a board member, Commissioner Flores endeavors to listen to the needs of the residents of Lansing and to set policy to carry out those needs with the utmost integrity.

James Long - Commissioner

Commissioner Long is serving his third term on the board being first elected in 1995 and currently holds the position of President.

A resident of Lansing since 1966 Jim taught and coached at Memorial Junior High School for three years, spent 32 years at Thornton Fractional High School where he taught, coached, served as girls athletic director and held the position of department chairperson for health and physical education. Upon retirement Jim served as Athletic Director at St. Francis deSales High School for five years. He currently coaches baseball at Griffith High School in Indiana.

In 2005 Commissioner Long was named Athletic Director of the Year by the Illinois Athletic Directors Association and was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall Of Fame in 2006.

Jim and his wife Suzanne have two sons and six grandchildren.