Sue Ter Maat, TribLocal reporter

Two Highland Park Park District commissioners gave in to public pressure this week by resigning in the wake of an outcry over huge bonuses awarded employees, officials said Wednesday.

Commissioner Stacy Weiss tendered her resignation on Wednesday, while Nancy Rosenbaum handed in her formal letter late Tuesday evening, said park district Executive Director Liza McElroy

Rosenbaum felt residents hadn’t received the answers they deserved, which prompted her resignation, she said in an interview Wednesday evening.

“That’s what did it for me,” Rosenbaum said. “Not answering the questions upfront.”

The five commissioners agreed before a heated public meeting on Monday that they would not answer questions from residents during the forum, Rosenbaum said.

“We had outraged people who wanted answers and we told them we would post the answers on our web site later and that we would only take questions now,” she said.

Weiss could not be reached for comment.

Residents had demanded the resignations of Rosenbaum, Weiss and Board President Lorenz Werhane Jr. Werhane has vowed not to resign and could not be reached on Wednesday.

Residents’ anger was aroused by an Aug. 1 Tribune story that outgoing Park District Executive Director Ralph Volpe landed $270,999 in bonuses in 2008, boosting his compensation that year to $435,203.

Volpe, who retired at 57, receives a pension this year of $166,332. It would be about $110,000 had he received more typical annual salary hikes of 4 percent, instead of the huge hike and bonus in 2008.

In another case, Park District finance director Kenneth Swan received a five-year contract that called for bonuses of about $75,000 a year. He has not yet retired.

About 50 residents attended the park board meeting on Monday at the West Ridge Center to vent their disappointment and to hear how the board planned to address the issue.

The Monday meeting was largely a repeat of an Aug. 19 gathering where about 100 residents at the Highland Park Community House expressed their outrage to the board.

Residents demanded that the trio to step down as they had been on the board when the pension plans had been approved. Vice President Elaine Waxman and Commissioner Cal Bernstein were not on the board, so residents have not actively called for them to step down.

They reserved their ire for the three board members, who said on Aug. 19 that they would not leave. While they apologized profusely for the pension and pay packages, the crowd was unmoved.

Rosenbaum said at the time that she would finish out her term, which would have ended in April. Weiss said that she had done a lot of good on the board overall while Werhane simply said he would not leave his post.

The remaining three board members will be tasked with appointing new board members, McElroy said The board is expected to hold a special meeting soon to discuss that. No date has been set yet, she said.  

sutermaat@tribune.com