Activist Toolkit

1) Why do you want to be a Trustee? What makes you qualified to serve? What metrics of success do you plan on holding yourself accountable to?

Because I love Oak Park. I tell everyone that will listen that Oak Park is one of the few places in the US that I want my family to live. And I’m running for trustee because I want to build on that and to keep it a place where families like mine  – and everyone else’s – can really thrive. 

If elected, I plan to work on keeping Oak Park affordable - because we can’t be an inclusive and welcoming community unless we’re a diverse community. And to maintain our diversity - we must stay affordable.

I plan to work on keeping Oak Park safe by using a combination of police and alternate response. By focusing on efficient policing that uses our armed officers in the places they’re needed and uses unarmed response in places where it makes sense. And by focusing on the data - including a relentless push towards data transparency and using that data to drive our decisions and accountability.

I plan to work on keeping it vibrant - by working to ensure we don’t lose the momentum we’ve made in building an economically vibrant and viable community. Our small business community is thriving, our retail vacancies are less than 3%, our sales tax revenue is at all-time highs, and our business license applications are through the roof. These are all things that we must continue to build upon to keep Oak Park as a destination for business and a diverse set of residents alike.

Finally - it’s impact. I believe that this village, and the people in it, have the ability to impact the future and inspire others to do the same - far beyond our 5 square miles. I believe that because we’ve done it. Our Fair Housing Ordinance brough national acclaim and study and awards. Our dedication to Community Policing led to us teaching nationwide seminars on our process. And the Early Childhood Collab was the model for the Illinois program which then served as the model for the program President Obama signed into law at a national level.

Oak Park has the ability to make an impact that extends beyond our borders, but only if we have the courage to build a future on our past rather than living in it. Only if we have the determination to do the work and only if we’re relentless and smart and stick to our values to create it. And only if we select the right people to lead it. 

2) How do you make decisions?

I bring a solutions-driven methodology to the board. I do my homework by reading the materials provided by staff and doing outside research as necessary. I seek out opinions, especially those that disagree with me in an effort to alleviate blind spots and arrive at the best possible decision.

I listen intently to my colleagues, bring the lens of my life experience, compassion, and empathy to my decision making, and ensure that I’m willing to compromise and collaborate to create the best possible decisions for the village of Oak Park.

Finally, I show my work, both before and after, so that the community understands how I think, how I arrived at my decisions, and has the ability to offer me insight.

I use that framework to solve every issue facing the village of Oak Park from small to large and will continue to do so if elected to continue serving on April 4th.

3) What are the three biggest challenges or opportunities facing Oak Park in the next three, five, and ten years and how should the board address them over the next four years?

I think Community Safety is by far both the biggest opportunity - though some would call it a challenge.

There’s a critical hiring shortage in the policing field right now which means that even though we’ve budgeted to hire 20 police officers, it’s going to be a challenge to hire them. But that means we have an opportunity to rethink how we keep our community safe with a smaller number of officers than recommended. We do that by doing what I call ‘Efficient Policing’. It means transitioning duties from sworn officers (cops with guns) to non-sworn officers (cops without guns) and alternate response that can be otherwise done without needing an armed response. Stolen bikes and property crime after the fact are two that often get brought up as examples, but there are other possibilities. Included in that is an alternate response/mental health crisis service that would transition even more calls from police to folks with a different, more specific type of training.

We should look at using infrastructure as safety to create streets that slow traffic naturally without needing additional response - roundabouts are my favorite example of this.  While anyone can blow through a four-way stop, you can’t blow through a roundabout. Narrowing residential streets that we want to keep slow by adding protected bike lanes serves a dual purpose - slowing streets and giving bikers and pedestrians somewhere safe to use for transit and recreation. And because enforcement will always be at least a small part of increasing traffic safety, we should also explore non-police enforcement of traffic violations. Our police force has used their weapon twice in the last 10 years - probably many more years than that. It shows that traffic enforcement is an activity that could possibly be implemented by non-sworn officers.

4) How would you approach the budgeting process?

Well, since I’ve done this once before - I’ll tell you how I did approach it.

I read the budget, not cover to cover but definitely all of the narrative. I took notes and asked experts about places where I had questions. I talked to folks - current and former trustees, staff, and concerned community members to get their take on not only how much money we’re looking to levy but also where it will be used. And ultimately, I applied my own lens to the process and worked collaboratively with my colleagues to refine the document until we got it to a place where we were all happy. 

During that process I stood up in areas where I felt we were losing track of the mission and I compromised in others where I felt that giving a little wouldn’t hurt the village but could get us to a consensus and that’s how I’d continue to approach it. 

5) What would you say to voters who are worried about the tax burden?

It’s a real concern. Affordability is the key driver of diversity in our village. Black folks nationwide earn 30% less than their white counterparts. When you translate that to housing, it means that there’s less money to weather property tax fluctuations, expensive old home problems, and much less of an inclination to stretch to live here when you can rent or buy across the street in one of our neighboring communities for a lot less.

So what I’d tell these voters is that affordability is a key element of my platform and how we drive it is important. Notably, I voted to pass a balanced budget that included no increase to the levy for 2023 at the Village Board level. And before I joined the board, my recommendations from the Oak Park Economic Development Corporation helped create record sales tax revenues, retail vacancies of less than 3% and affordable housing percentages that have consistently increased and outperformed our peers - going from 18% to 22% to now an estimated 26%. 

Finally, the reason sales tax revenue matters so much is because every dollar of sales tax revenue offsets a dollar of property tax levy that’s needed. The village board is the only government that has the ability to actually create revenue which serves to drive affordability in Oak Park and it's a responsibility that we need to embrace and push forward because no one else can. 

6) What policies and programs should the Village undertake to improve its tax base and help local businesses thrive?

Retail follows rooftops. The #1 thing that the village can do, and has done, to drive a higher sales tax base and help local businesses is to increase the number and diversity of residents in the village that those businesses can use to draw from as a customer base. When folks in our single family home districts are home making dinner for the family on a Wednesday night, folks in our Downtown district are eating out and keeping those restaurants open.

This also has the side effect of driving affordable housing through a concept called filtering. Filtering is when new, higher-priced properties entering the market cause those who can afford to do so to trade up. As the supply of vacant older properties rises, the rent prices for those properties should fall. We’ve seen this over the last ten years as we’ve watched the affordable housing percentage go from 18% to 22% to now an estimated 26% - without significant investment in new construction in that area of the market. Notably - no other municipality with property values near $400k (as ours are) and with 50k people or more, has an affordable housing percentage over 20%. 

7) Is it appropriate for the Village incentives or supports that would specifically be directed toward minority-owned businesses? Why or why not?

Yes. I pushed hard for one such program at the OPEDC. You can read more about it here. Unfortunately, the program ran afoul of the equal protections clause and a similar program which was actually implemented by Cook County was recently sued and paused to be restructured because of the same concerns we encountered. One way that might make this work could be to find private financing through donations and such, and that’s something I’d ask the village to explore.

8) What do you see as the most pressing issue relating to housing in Oak Park? What
policies would you advocate to address this issue?

1. A lack of diversity in our housing and that spreads across a number of points. 1)We don’t have nearly enough affordable homes. This makes it hard for minorities, especially Black folks, to become homeowners in Oak Park - see my answer to question 5 about the income gap between races and our unpredictable property tax burden which can sometimes increase significantly year to year.

2. We don’t have nearly enough ground entry units. This makes it hard for our seniors to age in their community and for those with disabilities to find housing compatible with any mobility concerns they might have. We need to increase these units.

3. We don’t have enough 2-flats & 3-flats and we can’t really build more due to zoning. This type of housing is prevalent in southeast Oak Park and allows homeowners to offset their costs with rental income and build more inclusive neighborhoods by adding units for those who would likely rent in our multiunit districts instead. 

9) Rental units comprise about 41% of Oak Park’s housing stock. How can the Village
better serve the needs of renters in our community?

Oak Park has rental units that run the gamut on economics from affordable to ‘luxury’. Some of the things that we should do for some economic levels aren’t necessarily priorities for others. But for everyone, we should maintain our focus on making Oak Park a more affordable village, increase our parking and transit options, and increase services to help mediate tenant/landlord disputes.

We should recognize that a lot of our rental units exist on the borders of Oak Park and create programs and outreach to create a better experience that’s more similar to the community that exists in our single family home neighborhoods. To increase our racial and economic diversity, we should increase the availability of affordable units, both naturally occurring and intentionally created.

And for those who have chosen to live in downtown Oak Park, we should continue to invest in creating a vibrant Oak Park that has a pronounced and welcoming sense of place, an atmosphere that encourages community, and a village that is diverse in the experiences that it offers so that everyone, no matter the living arrangements that they chose, can feel welcome and enjoy their time here.

A diverse Oak Park means having the ability for different people to live alongside each other, experience the village differently, but still find it enjoyable and welcoming. That doesn’t change based on housing type and we should try harder to create this atmosphere across our village. 

10) How can the Village better serve the needs of the disabled in our community? Those who wish to age in place here in Oak Park?

We don’t have nearly enough ground entry units and elevator access units. This makes it hard for our seniors to age in their community and for those with disabilities to find housing compatible with any mobility concerns they might have. We need to increase these units to become more friendly to those who have spent their life building community and friendships here, as well as those who desire to live in a village that’s focused on providing solutions and making life easier rather than obstacles that make it more difficult.

We also need to adopt this as an official ‘lens’ that we use as we build, modify and deploy services. One example I’ve used at a forum is the village’s new website - there are laws that govern ADA accessibility for websites. The village should ensure we’re adhering to those guidelines but go the extra mile and implement best practices that aren’t explicitly mandated. 

11) Last year, Village Trustees passed a climate action plan. What is your opinion of that plan and its implementation so far?

I’m a fan of the climate action plan. It’s loaded with actionable items that we can start to implement right now. I think we need to pick up our pace on it and do more than we have, especially now that we have a blueprint and we don’t have to debate every single program in detail.

Oak Park has an opportunity to lead on climate - not just locally in our village but regionally and maybe larger and we should seize the opportunity and push forward.

12) In their report, BerryDunn consultants noted that there are racial disparities in the impact of policing in Oak Park. This echoes concerns raised by community members who have called on our elected officials to reimagine community safety in our Village. How do you define public safety? How would you work to create an Oak Park where all community members feel safe?

I introduced a motion to have field stop data, broken down by race, published in the Village Manager report. This data is now published quarterly, and is accompanied by a presentation by the Chief as well. I asked for this so that we can keep our eye on any emerging patterns of discrimination and stop them early if they exist.

Late last year there was a D200/D97/Village IGA presented to the Board. After the presentation, I became aware that our police would potentially have the right to question kids in school without a parent/guardian available. Offline, and in future meetings, I worked with the Village Manager’s office to get a policy created where our police will not question any students on school grounds without a parent/guardian present or their consent.

I’ve been a champion of using data to drive transparency and accountability and I plan to continue to push for improved data publishing to increase that transparency.

You can also see my response to question 3 and my community safety plan here.

13) Volunteer citizen boards, commissions, and committees advise the village trustees. Do you believe that these entities are utilized effectively? What (if any) changes would you like to see to their authority, responsibilities, and oversight?

I think they’ve been utilized a lot more in the past 2 years than before and in general I’m fine with how they operate though I’m always open to suggestions. For example, while serving as a Commissioner on the Civic Information Systems Commission, we were tasked with helping create guidelines for FLOCK that provided meaningful oversight of the system. We collaborated with the police, the Village Manager, and CPOC. I felt the latitude given to use was wide and a lot of our suggestions made it into the final General Orders.

Because Commissions are appointed rather than elected, volunteer, and unpaid, I think it’s important that we don’t put too much responsibility on them while also ensuring that their recommendations make it to the Board. The Board can then act on those recommendations so that accountability continues to rest with elected officials who the public has the ability to hold to account. 

14) In the past, Oak Park has been at the forefront of votes regarding national issues like gay/lesbian domestic partnerships years before gay marriage was legalized, and immigration. Do you think these types of ordinances are an appropriate use of trustee time and energy? What would you say to a constituent who wanted Village Trustees to
take a position on current national issues like protection for transgender rights or a
woman’s right to bodily autonomy?

Yes. We should continue to express our values through the ordinances, resolutions, and proclamations that we issue from the Board table - including issues such as those included in the question. Our values of diversity, equity, and inclusion are part of the DNA of Oak Park and expressing them from the Board table is not only appropriate, it’s expected. It matters. 

15) What role should the Village play in voter registration, education and participation?

If the village votes to put a referendum on the ballot for ranked choice voting, then I think it’s incumbent upon us to fund education and outreach programs so that our community is educated on the complexities of the new system BEFORE voting to enable it.  In general, I think that more voter participation in the democratic process makes for a better process and is a good thing overall so I fully support the village partnering with community organizations in ways to increase registration and participation. 

16) What approach should the Village take towards intergovernmental cooperation initiatives such as the Collaboration for Early Childhood Development? Are there other specific initiatives that you would like to implement or expand upon?

I’m a huge fan of the Collab. As I mentioned above, they’ve served as the model for both the state and national implementations of Early Childhood Development. As a board member at Oak Leyden, I would love to see the village invest more in the Intellectual disability field. It’s critically underfunded and the impact that’s made is incredibly important and can lead to rich lives for folks who wouldn’t have these experiences otherwise. Our participants can’t often self-advocate which leaves them vulnerable and subject to the whims of society - a society that often treats them as invisible. No one in society should be invisible and everyone should have the opportunity to live life to the fullest of their ability. We should do what we can to make that happen for the widest range of people.

17) What approach should the Village take towards intermunicipal cooperation with
neighboring communities? Are there specific initiatives that you would like to implement or expand upon?

I’m always open to collaborating with our neighbors. One way that the village has collaborated recently is with the creation of the Cross-Community Climate Collaborative (C4) initiative. This has been an award-winning collaboration that can serve as a model on how to collaborate with our neighbors to achieve impact that’s larger than what we can do alone. I would support more collaboration similar to this.

Another thing I explored while Chair of the OPEDC is a partnership with Chicago to extend the Soul City Corridor on Chicago Ave in Austin into Oak Park. The Soul City Corridor in Chicago focuses on revitalization of underutilized land while promoting and elevating Black culture and a focus on economic development and job creation. Oak Park borders this Corridor and it would be great if we could partner with Chicago and extend that Corridor into Oak Park with that same focus. 

18) Please list the three largest donors to your campaign by dollar amount contributed.

Thomas H. Ptáček
Oak Park Firefighters Pac 39109
Paul Beckwith

19) For those who are currently serving or have previously served as a Village Trustee: What vote are you most proud of, and what vote do you most regret? Why?

I’ve only been on the Board for 5 months so the votes that I have to choose from are limited - that said it’s a tie between two. My vote on the budget and my vote to overturn the Historic Preservation Commission. 

On the budget, we had the opportunity to achieve a balanced budget with no tax levy increase aka 0% levy due to a number of timing issues - ARPA funds, an actuarial change in the way we fund pensions, and record sales tax revenues. All of these combined to allow us the opportunity to pass a flat levy in the face of 10% inflation. I’m proud that we jumped on this opportunity and was able to save the community some much needed money in a time where inflation is much higher than it’s been in recent memory as every dollar counts. Especially for our residents experiencing financial hardship. 

On the second item, not long ago we had a family come before us after having been denied a certification of demolition by the Historical Preservation Commission. The HPC acted within the scope of their power by denying the request and the family appealed the decision to the village board.

I became aware of the situation and reached out to the resident. I listened intently as she recounted a story that would break most people. By the end of the story, I was sure that the Village Board needed to intervene to make the situation right. And we did. We voted unanimously to overturn the HPC and grant the certificate of demolition.

I don’t say this as a criticism of the HPC. Their scope and power was much more limited compared to our own and they advised the family to appeal to us for relief. But the key to that relief was taking the time to listen and understand this family’s story, to understand the hardship that they were experiencing, directly from them, and then to act on it in contrast to the ruling of the commission. For me, this epitomizes what being a Trustee is about - helping the people of this community.

I don’t yet have a vote that I regret the most. I’m sure that day will come, but I hope to push it out as far as possible.