Led Team Obama in ’08
While it would seem difficult for one Oak Parker to make a significant difference in last November’s election, Jerry Delaney gave it her best shot.
President-elect Barack Obama won resoundingly here, capturing 84.2 percent of votes cast. But he eked out closer victories in other, neighboring states. West Suburban Team Obama-and its leader Jerry Delaney-traveled to states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana and Iowa to help get the vote out in 2008.
For her leadership and initiative in helping to start Team Obama and helping to mobilize volunteers from this area, Delaney earns an honorable mention for Villager of the Year in 2008.
Delaney, 65, was a driving force at the Oak Park Democratic Party office, helping to send more than 600 volunteers to battleground states to get people to register to vote, even sending people door to door in Indiana to round up voters.
Along with a dedicated group of fellow Democrats, Delaney formed West Suburban Team Obama in February 2007, shortly after he announced his candidacy for president. She also got involved in his senatorial run in 2004. When she heard Obama’s intentions, Delaney contacted State Sen. Don Harmon to see how she could help.
“Every core value I’ve ever had, this guy seemed to be on the same page with me,” she said.
When the primaries started in February, more than 100 Democrats from the Oak Park area were assigned to Dubuque, Iowa to help canvas. From there the effort snowballed, gathering more and more supporters. By Election Day in November, West Suburban Team Obama had assembled more than 600 volunteers. Many supporters went out of state 2-3 times, when only one trip was expected.
“I’ve never seen this kind of grassroots involvement from people,” Delaney said. “It’s not like we had to go out and beg people to do things. They just kind of came out of the woodwork.”
Two members of Team Obama garnered full-time positions in the president-elect’s administration. The group is planning an inaugural ball at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn in the near future. They hope to stay involved with Obama after the election, and will meet Jan. 24 to pick four issues that are important to the group.
“It didn’t make sense to have this message of change stop right at the election,” she said.
Delaney has lived in Oak Park for 36 years. A former nun, she currently works for the Mayer Brown law firm in Chicago. She’s divorced and has nine children, ages 22-37, three of which are adopted.
Delaney is no stranger to involvement in local politics. She was part of the Citizens For Change political movement that won Villager of the Year for 2005. However, Delaney has no interest in running for any position in April’s local election.
“I’m much better at smoking cigars in the back room,” she said.
-Marty Stempniak
Eyes on the prize
District 200 Board of Education members Ralph Lee and John Allen made a real impact in 2008 on OPRF’s most pressing issue: the achievement gap between black and white students.
The race workshops held by the board in 2008 were spearheaded by Allen. Elected in 2007, the River Forest resident urged his fellow board members to devote more time to discussing race and the achievement gap beyond their time-constrained regular board and committee meetings. The workshops began last spring but got off to a shaky start when the facilitator backed out because of the board’s insistence that the discussions take place in open session. Allen facilitated the remaining spring workshops.
Lee, also elected in 2007, made his impact by introducing two controversial resolutions that passed, including one declaring closing the minority student achievement gap to be the school’s highest priority. The resolutions were later revised, but Lee’s and Allen’s efforts directed the board to more nuanced and sometimes uncomfortable areas that get at the heart of gap.
-Terry Dean
Paving the way for all-day K
District 97 Supt. Constance Collins experienced both achievements and setbacks in 2008. The news of former Buildings and Grounds Director Jerry Malatesta’s alleged theft of more than $750,000 in a fraudulent billing scheme became public last spring. Though the crime reportedly began in 2004, a year prior to her becoming superintendent, and was exposed during Collins’ watch, the revelations alarmed parents in Dist. 97.
Shortly before the Malatesta story broke, the Dist. 97 Board of Education approved a new three-year contract for Collins, including a salary increase.
The year also saw the launch of full-day kindergarten in the district, piloted this year at Irving, Beye and Longfellow elementary schools, with plans to expand district-wide the following school year. All-day K was one of the top goals in the district’s strategic plan, which Collins helped launch.
-Terry Dean