Oak Park has intense do-gooder tendencies. We see a wrong and our impulse is to set it right, at least within the puny 2.5 square miles of our borders.
There are multiple tools in the do-gooders quiver and this week shows Oak Park taking a range of nuanced actions to address genuine and complex issues:
Banning handguns
Other Chicago suburbs quickly killed off their bans on handguns last year after the Supreme Court sided with the NRA in opposing a ban in Washington, D.C. It was hard to see Evanston and Morton Grove fold up so quickly on an issue as crucial as handgun control.
Oak Park didn’t. Instead, working the closer ties the village has grown in recent years with the City of Chicago, Oak Park joined its defense of our hard-won handgun ban with that of the city’s.
Last week the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in favor of the joint Chicago and Oak Park defense. The court’s ruling was based on the rights of states and municipalities to regulate crucial local issues, including firearms.
This case isn’t over, of course. The NRA will appeal, as is its right. But standing firm and finding the right ally was the proper course for Oak Park. Not buckling to the weight of the NRA’s power is the right course.
Makes us proud of our village and its leaders.
Idling engines
It is also a good day when Oak Park’s earnest efforts to save the world do not translate immediately into a village ordinance banning something or another.
The village’s Environmental & Energy Advisory Commission has chosen to tackle the real problem of excess auto pollution caused by the casually idling car, truck or bus. This is one of the great taken-for-granted environmental issues of our time.
The commission is looking pragmatically and creatively at engine idlers and possible solutions. How about school buses sitting, heaters running, while drivers wait for routes to start? Volunteer commissioners have talked to the bus company, which would love to save its diesel fuel, and to the school district which would be happy to have bus drivers step into the school office to stay warm.
More recently the commission’s representative came before a local business group urging that pressure be applied to delivery trucks. As it was made clear that this effort was going to be voluntary and done through education, you could see the defensive posture of overly regulated business owners diminish. With purposes aligned, the business owners had suggestions on promoting the cause and solving the problem one delivery at a time.
Next step for RF parks
On Monday, River Forest residents have the chance to influence the future direction of the park district and their tax bills. It should make for an interesting discussion.
The park district board is actively considering a tax referendum for 2010 that would allow it to purchase a warehouse building adjacent to a current park facility. The structure would put the parks into the indoor recreation business – a direction park leaders believe citizens want them headed.
We’re admirers of the park district and its resuscitation over the past two decades. Clarification though is needed about the on and off merger discussions between the parks and the community center before a wise decision can be made.