Below are candidate-submitted answers to a biographical survey Wednesday Journal sent out to candidates running for public office this year.
Age: 57
Previous political experience:
Oak Park Village Trustee 2013-2017
District 97 School Board President, 2011-2013
District 97 School Board Vice Pres., 2009-11
District 97 Board Member, 2005-09
Previous community experience:
Member of St. Catherine-St. Lucy Parish (1999-present)
Oak Park Education Foundation Board Member (2011-13)
Beye School PTO Special Events Co-VP (2003-05)
Drake University National Alumni Board (2000-2012)
American Marketing Assn. (member, natl. conference chair), 2011-present
Mikva Challenge Board of Directors (2016-present)
Occupation:
Executive Vice President of Lipman Hearne, a marketing agency serving nonprofit organizations
Education:
BA in Journalism from Drake University, Des Moines, IA
Residential real estate development is a major issue in the village with the recent completion of Vantage Oak Park, new developments under construction (Elevate Oak Park, District House), and several proposed developments (Albion, Oak Park and Madison by Jupiter Realty, and the Harlem and South Boulevard development by Lincoln Properties). Please address your thoughts on all of the aforementioned developments and proposals. Do you support or oppose these proposals and why? What are your concerns for each project as they relate to traffic, shadows, affordability, density, impact to schools and other community resources, impact on the tax base, the changing nature of Oak Park or any other issue you would like to address?
It’s been important for us to look at smart development opportunities throughout our village, as a way of strengthening our local economy. The village has been involved in three downtown developments – Vantage Oak Park, Elevate, and the proposed South Blvd. and Harlem project. All are taking unused or underused property that the village owned and transforming those properties into exciting new residences and businesses. We’ve already welcomed a number of new residents and businesses downtown, and I think we’re in a good place with these three initiatives.
As one of the Village Board’s representatives on the Oak Park Economic Development Corp., I’ve been encouraging us to now focus on residential and business development opportunities at Madison and Oak Park, to instill more vibrancy into that important section of our village as well. I also expect the village to look for smart opportunities on North Ave. and Roosevelt Rd. over the next four years.
As we have sought new development opportunities for Oak Park, like many I have also been concerned that our development plans not risk losing the beautiful diversity that is our community. It was insightful to learn that, based on US Census data, Oak Park has not only maintained the diversity that we all desire, but that we have actually strengthened some aspects of it – for example, the number of seniors in our community has increased, reversing a declining trend.
To help keep Oak Park as the wonderfully diverse community that we all appreciate, I think it is important for all of us in elected office to do more to help our newer residents understand just how Oak Park got to be this way. It’s no accident – our diversity is the result of smart, hard choices made by the folks who lived here in the 50s and 60s, who took stands to insure that our village was welcoming to all. It’s time for those of us in elected office now to take similar stands today.
Crime is at historic lows in Oak Park, but there is a perception that the village is unsafe. What are your thoughts on safety in the village and the perception of safety? What initiatives would you pursue to improve safety in the village and improve the perception of safety?
We’re fortunate to have a great police force in Oak Park. They do an outstanding job of helping us all feel safe, and they work hard to insure that all members of our community are treated with respect.
While crime has been low, it’s still present in our village, and we can all help the police by doing what we can to help make things safer, like locking our garage doors and windows, along with our bicycles and cars.
One initiative I will continue to pursue is the need for an improved village-wide parking plan, to address both safety and resident frustration with the process. I’ve heard from many residents who use parking permits, and they feel the current system can be unsafe, often requiring people to park blocks from their homes. And beyond safety, even the process of getting a permit can be a time-consuming challenge. That’s why I’ve been vocal as a current village trustee about the need for a comprehensive reassessment of our village’s parking situation. We began this review in January, and I’m confident it will help us create a better and safer set of parking rules for Oak Park before the end of this year.
What is Oak Park’s role as it concerns the Chicago neighborhood of Austin, if any?
Oak Park needs to be a good and thoughtful neighbor to all of the communities that border our village. If we can help Austin become stronger, Oak Park will become stronger too. Many of our community’s organizations have done much to help strengthen Austin, including my church, St. Catherine-St. Lucy (located on the border of Austin at Washington Ave.).
As the Village Board’s representative to the Oak Park Economic Development Corporation, I’ve gained a greater appreciation of the fact that many people shopping in Oak Park are not residents of Oak Park – they’re frequently visiting us from Austin, or Berwyn, or Forest Park. Our businesses are helping to meet the needs of a much broader group than just Oak Parkers, and that’s something we can all be proud of.
Transparency has been repeatedly noted by candidates and residents as an issue with the village. Do you believe Oak Park has a transparency problem, and how would you address it?
We’re fortunate to have a very active and engaged community, and we all know that our community demands transparency. I believe the village has done a much better job over the last few years of improving its transparency, so our residents can more easily learn the information they want to know. This includes an overhaul of the village’s approach to commercial customer service handling, and improvements to our website and electronic minutes and record keeping (in part a result of my requests during my first term as a village trustee).
That said, I appreciate that there is also always more we can do to insure that everyone in the village can find the information they want more easily and quickly. I’m particularly interested in finding new electronic ways for the village to share and connect with residents, as an enhancement and alternative to the printed FYI publication.
Residents frequently note the high property taxes in Oak Park and have argued that rising taxes are making the village less affordable and, therefore, less diverse. The village’s portion of the property tax burden is roughly 15 percent (the rest is from other governing bodies – schools, library and park district). How would you address the rising property tax burden and how would you work with other taxing bodies to reduce the tax burden in Oak Park?
As a trustee, I frequently hear from members of our community regarding their concerns about rising property taxes. I also hear from community members who may share that concern, but are also concerned that we make a collectively adequate investment in all areas of our village – schools, parks, libraries and more – to insure all are maintained as important features of the Oak Park experience.
Both must be addressed. One of the ways I see doing so is by continuing to pursue smart development investment opportunities in Oak Park as a way of generating new tax revenue, to ease the demand made on homeowners. We’ve been turning much of the unused or underused property that the village has owned into businesses and residences that will be contributing significantly to the overall community budget. Our community’s downtown development plans are in place; I’ve been supportive of moving our attention next to Madison Street, and of then addressing smart growth opportunities on both North Ave. and Roosevelt Rd.
A second way is by continuing to seek ways for all of Oak Park’s governing bodies to work together more efficiently and effectively. There’s already a lot of collaboration between the village, the schools, the parks, the libraries and the township, but there is even more that can be done to help limit future tax needs. As a past school board president and current trustee, I’m confident we can do even more collaboratively. The IGOV/Intergovernmental Committee has already proven to be a great way of finding more common ground between the governing bodies; I’m optimistic that IGOV can now provide a means for elevating discussions about shared resources and systems.