What’s the end goal behind the disturbing things happening with the Board at the Crystal Lake Park District? We’re very concerned the end goal is to make it as hard as possible for residents to put boats on the lake, effectively privatizing the lake.

The Crystal Lake Park District was formed by voter approval 104 years ago for the specific purpose of allowing public access to the lake. Three different court cases have affirmed park ownership of the majority of the lake.

[ Park board President Tiesenga: 'Major falsehoods' said of new majority ]

Since newly elected board members took office on May 15 they’ve intentionally focused on the lake, eliminating ordinances and agreements involving the park district and the lake. They’ve rescinded an ordinance regulating lake development, gave control of a park district lake advisory committee to a private home owners association, and killed a vital intergovernmental agreement between the city of Crystal Lake, the village of Lakewood and the Park District involving the lake.

The city and the village wrote letters to the Park Board asking for explanations for the sudden termination. “The Park District’s unilateral action to terminate the Agreement without any discussion, either before or afterward, shows a concerning lack of communication or planning” wrote Lakewood, and from the city “... based on recent park board public meetings, we are concerned that Park Board actions could reverse longstanding efforts and undermine the community’s trust ...”

This is unprecedented. The park board’s recent actions are an insult to intergovernmental cooperation.

Instead of working together to best serve taxpayers, the newly elected board president, Frederick Tiesenga, a part-time resident, and newly hired lawyer, Eric Anderson, together with 2-3 other board members, seem intent on carrying out Tiesenga’s and Anderson’s long held opinions that the park district has no authority over the lake and that the public’s right to boat on the lake should be limited.

Tiesenga, in a 2019 email to the park district titled “Lake Access,” argues that the park district must limit access. Anderson, in a 2019 email to the park district, asserts that the park district was attempting to deny lakefront property owners’ riparian rights. Their arguments failed but their fight did not. Tiesenga ran for the park board in 2019 and lost. Anderson successfully ran in 2021. Tiesenga ran unopposed in 2025, was elected and immediately appointed president by the new board majority, hiring Anderson as its attorney.

What could come next? They are talking about charging a daily fee at the boat launches instead of an annual boat gate key fob. This could limit the public’s ability to boat on the lake by massively inflating launch fees to the point where no one can afford them. Who exactly does that benefit? This is NOT serving the community.

It’s beyond time to move on from what’s referred to as ‘the lake wars’ and return to good governance.

Shawn Zimmerman, Sarah Michehl, Debbie Gallagher, Angel Collins and Caroline (Chemaly) Bachour are past Crystal Lake Park District commissioners with a combined 38 years on the park board.