Activist Toolkit

1. What motivates you to seek this office? What skills, experiences, and perspectives would you bring to the Village, and why would those contributions be valuable in the role of Oak Park Village Clerk?

I am motivated by my passion to serve the Oak Park community. 

The Clerk role must work seamlessly with the people of the Village of Oak Park, the employees and the elected officials to ensure all residents are heard and served. As the current Deputy Clerk, and an employee of the Village for the past 3.5 years, I am familiar with current processes and programs used by the Clerk’s office. I’ve developed relationships with the various department heads and their teams. Through my community work, I’ve had the opportunity to learn the needs of our community and will proactively engage with our community members.

I have the knowledge and experience to hit the ground running on day one.

2. What are the three biggest challenges or opportunities you expect the Village of Oak Park to face in the coming years, and how as Clerk will you work to address these challenges or realize these opportunities?

One of the biggest challenges the Village – and many other organizations and communities – will have to face in the coming years is working with a lean budget due to the financial impact the pandemic has had on our community. As the current Deputy Clerk, I have been able to identify opportunities available to us within our current resources to provide our residents with exceptional service. For example, we can create efficiencies and increase the community’s access to government through improvement in our use of technology available to us. As Clerk, I will work directly with Village leadership and elected officials to “increase transparency by identifying ways for the Clerk to share information with the public.” (Village of Oak Park Board of Trustees Goal 1: Service Delivery/Customer Service, Customer Service Vision, SMART Goals #5)

3. How will you balance competing interests, such as your own deeply-held values and opinions, input from Village staff and Trustees, and diverse views from the community? How would you describe your leadership style and your decision-making process generally?

I lead through a servant-leadership style. Active listening, empathy, healing, awareness, foresight and stewardship are core values of mine and at the forefront of my decision-making process. Given the role of the Clerk, I do not view my values to be in conflict with the views of residents or other elected officials.

4. In recent years, the Village has proposed moving FOIA responsibilities outside of the Clerk’s office and decreasing the Clerk’s salary. What is your vision for the office of the Clerk? What role does the Clerk play in our Village government, and why is that role important?

My vision for the Clerk’s office is to be the hub for the community to connect to resources, data and information so that residents can become a part of local government in the ways they feel most comfortable. 

The Clerk should become an active part of the processing of business licenses, liquor licenses, special events and all other documents on which the Clerk is the authorizing agent. The Clerk can help to actively engage and assist local businesses with their licensing. Similarly, the Clerk can assist residents in scheduling special events such as block parties.

Finally, I will utilize technology to improve document management and retention to improve transparency in Village government.

5. What steps will you take to improve and expand community engagement with the Village and the office of the Clerk?

I will actively engage our community so they can be a part of the decision-making process. I want residents and local business owners to voice their needs and be heard before final decisions are made. It is vital that the Clerk’s office actually ask community members and local businesses how they prefer to engage and follow through.

I will become our resident expert in the Village’s current programs, Legistar and Granicus, so that we can utilize them to their fullest potential.

I will work with our Citizen Involvement Commission to continue to ensure barriers to entry are removed from the volunteer application process for those who wish to participate on a commission.

I will explore how we can expand opportunities for residents to engage our elected official through public comment through the implementation of an online public comment form where commenters can submit public comment to be read for them by the Clerk, presented as a recording, presented live in-person, or share privately with the Board.

6. What does transparency mean to you? How would you work to put it into practice as Clerk?

Transparency means the community can easily obtain resources, data and information in a timely manner. I will continue to work with Village staff and our current Village resources to expand access to information: both through the FOIA process and making more information publicly available. 

7. How do you define equity? Have recent discussions in the larger community informed or changed your thinking?

Being equal and fair is not always straightforward. There are times when people need different treatment, tools and resources in order for government to meet them where they are and ensure that their opportunities are the same as anyone else. 

Recent events have helped me to better understand that this community is unique and truly wants to do better. There are no easy answers to issues of equity, but I believe that if we increase transparency and access to government for all residents, rely on our citizen commissions, and work collaboratively to increase minority representation on those commissions, this village will better be able to make equitable decisions which value the safety and prosperity of all residents.

8. How do you plan to solicit feedback from people who may be experiencing Oak Park in a different way than you? What barriers do you believe may exist in this process?

The Clerk’s office must meet people where they are and engage them how they want to be engaged. The Clerk’s office must be available to engage with our community online, over the phone and in-person. There is not one right way to engage our community, so we must do so proactively across different media.

In addition, the Clerk’s office must embrace every opportunity to overcome barriers by making information more accessible to those who don’t have internet access, who speak a different language, who are hearing or visually impaired and to those in our homeless population.

9. How will you collaborate with neighboring communities? Discuss a specific initiative you would wish to undertake. What benefits and challenges would you anticipate?

I will engage with the Clerk’s office in neighboring communities to understand how they work with and engage their residents. I want to know their successes as well as their challenges. By sharing information we can all continue to improve the quality of lives for residents in our communities.

There is great value in knowing what different communities are doing and how they are getting it done. It gives a space to learn from one another. Within the first six months in office, I will contact our neighboring Clerks to introduce myself and discuss ways we engage the residents in our communities. I will also continue to be actively involved in the North & Northwest Cook County Clerks Association. 

10. Give an example of a time when you worked to understand a situation or view different from your own. What helped you to move through that process? What hindered you as you moved through the process?

During my time in the Development Customer Services department, I worked closely with the Aging in Place Commission. Prior to my work with this commission, I did not realize all of the challenges my mother – and so many of our elders – face to age in place in our community. 

Active listening and a posture of learning have helped me move through this process and continue to grow. This changed my view as a daughter and community member and has allowed me to become a better advocate for seniors in our community.

I will seek to apply those lessons by being a Village Clerk that actually listens to the needs of our community and attempts to meet those needs.

11. What barriers do you see for community members who wish to engage with Oak Park’s Village government? How would you work to reduce or eliminate those barriers?

If a community member does not have access to internet or cable television, they currently do not have access to Village Board meetings. During a recent webinar spotlighting the work of Mendocino County, CA (February Clerk Spotlight: Mendocino County, CA), a clerk shared their county’s use of telecomments. I am committed to continuing to educate myself on innovative ways to engage our community throughout our Village’s decision-making process and to provide various ways for their voices to be heard.

12. What is your position on the extent to which the Village includes or should include accessibility features? Please address physical structures and virtual/information processes.

The Village has an on-site ADA coordinator as well as the Disability Access Commission. I am committed to working with both to determine if the ADA transition plan is adequate and that it meets the needs of all of our citizens. In addition, I am committed to insuring there are no barriers to access for all digital content of our village government.

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[The above answers were supplied on 2/19/21.]