Activist Toolkit

1. What motivates you to seek this office? What skills, experiences, and perspectives would you bring to the Board of Trustees, and why would those contributions be valuable to the Village of River Forest?

My family and I have lived in River Forest for over 15 years. During that time, we have built two homes in this community and matriculated two beautiful daughters through the River Forest school system. I plan to leverage my years as an attorney and business owner to help with ongoing issues the Board is addressing on behalf of our community. I have direct experience as an entrepreneur, and I understand the issues that many of our small businesses are facing. I am vested in keeping River Forest an attractive option for businesses and families. This can be achieved by ongoing innovation, business development and collaborative community support. If elected as a Village Trustee, I will approach every challenge with a focus on TRANSPARENCY and INCLUSION that deliver RESULTS. I believe that community engagement begins with transparency; River Forest’s residents deserve to know how decisions are made, how it will affect them, and that they have been given the opportunity for their voices to be heard. I will continue the work begun by the existing Board and build upon it to further the level of transparency between the Board and its constituents. I also believe strongly in diversity of thought. From my perspective, inclusion means intentional consideration of all views and ideas, even those that may be different than my own. Leveraging these views will enable our Village to increase its impact and benefit all residents. Finally, I am running to bring about results (or resolution). While no candidate can or should promise all things to everyone, I’m committed to being responsive, having follow-through and build a Village that is stronger and more vibrant than ever. 

2. What steps will you take to improve and expand community engagement with the Village and the Board? What is your view on how to involve residents in the decision making process in our Village?

Crucial to creating a successful Village is collaboration. Collaboration is built when there is mutual trust between the constituents and the governing body. I see my role as Trustee as a liaison between the two. To have larger community engagement we will need to continue to be transparent in all our initiatives and decisions. Now more than ever we must leverage gains in technology for increased transparency. I plan to ensure our residents are aware of how they can avail themselves of information and the business conducted by the Board. This includes hearing and understanding diverse opinions and perspectives prior to moving forward on any major initiatives. I will also look to expand the diversity of the members participating on the ad hoc committee level as well. Since these are volunteer positions, a group can only be a strong as its members. As a Board, I see us working together to communicate the availability of these positions and procedures for joining, so that the voices of the community continue to be heard. 

3. 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?

In the development of my firm I had to learn to collaborate and accept the ideas of other attorneys. Initially, my reluctance to do so greatly inhibited my firm’s growth. I learned quickly, however, that diversity of thought brings about the best results. Through this situation I learned the concept of “where you stand depends on where you sit.” In the development of my firm, this meant bringing more voices to the decision table, including junior attorneys, administrative support staff, and clients. It also meant improving communication and collaboration. I attribute much of my firm’s growth and success to being able to include collaborative thinking in my strategic planning and firm processes. 

4. Who or what is your role model for your approach to governing?

My model for governing is to always ensure the presence of diverse ideas and aim for consensus. I believe my best trait is my ability to listen more than I talk. While I will have ideas of my own to contribute, I believe we must first listen to the ideas of our constituents and work tirelessly to help implement them. I have found in the development of my law firm that diversity produces excellence. I strongly feel if we begin our community engagement with partnership rooted in trust, dignity, and respect, we will be able to find innovative opportunities to better our community and deliver on our commitment to those we serve. I also feel consensus building applies to other governing bodies as well. We need to work with other governmental authorities in River Forest to leverage each other strengths and avoid duplicative work. 

5. What do you feel are the three biggest issues facing River Forest, and how do you intend to address them? How will you prioritize among competing priorities?

1. Affordability-This entails a myriad of areas. It includes providing affordable housing for potential new residents who want to raise their families in our great community. As Trustee one of my main goals is to ensure that we not only meet and maintain our required mandate on affordable housing, but to set a plan in place to increase our affordable housing percentage by creatively and consistently thinking of ways we can support this initiative. Due to the geography of our community we must continue to think outside the box on how to get this accomplished. Additionally, we must take the necessary steps to ensure our residents can age-in-place and stay in River Forest. We must continue to review ways to ensure our elder community has the access to the necessary resources to support and assist them in their quest to remain in our community. This includes ongoing tax appeal training and further indirect support that could help decrease other ongoing expenses. 

2. Quality of Life- As I have stated before River Forest is a great place to live. As with any village or city we must continue to explore new ways to improve the quality of life in our community. To accomplish this, we need to collaborate with other government bodies to ensure River Forest remains a wonderful place to live. This includes evaluating our community and civic relations, education systems, safety, diversity, technology, and sustainability agenda, to name a few. As Trustee, I will make it a goal to engage and work with our residents to tackle these areas. I believe I am uniquely qualified to make this happen because of my constructive attitude, as well as my willingness to listen to our residents and encourage their involvement. 

3. Economic Growth- We need to ensure our community continues the path to maximize potential for our residents and our village as a whole. I think I can say with confidence that most residents are not in favor of the continuous rise in property taxes. One way we can work to reduce them is to increase our commercial development so tax liabilities are more equally distributed throughout the community. By offering TIF’s and actively pursuing more commercial development, we can increase the enjoyment of River Forest while also supporting efforts to bring property taxes down. Economic development that leads to new revenue generation is essential to increasing the quality of life in River Forest. As Trustee, I will work alongside the community and our economic committees to encourage growth in this area.

6. How would you characterize appropriate oversight of the Village Administrator by the Board? Given that River Forest will soon have a new Village Administrator, what challenges or opportunities do you expect the Board to face in its oversight role?

I strongly believe one person’s challenge is another’s opportunity. Though we will miss the tireless dedication of our previous Administrator, I also see this as an opportunity for growth. Our current village staff works very hard, and I am sure the new Administrator will build upon the success and stability of that Department. As a Trustee, I see the Board taking a collaborative approach and assisting where it becomes warranted, but also taking a hands-off approach when things are operating efficiently. 

7. What do you believe has been the most significant action taken by the Board in recent years, and why? Do you believe the Board acted appropriately?

I believe the development of the Affordable Housing Plan was a substantial move toward progress and community engagement. I understand that this process and the final Plan was controversial to some. As an outsider looking in, I see this as an opportunity to generate a tremendous amount of positive momentum. For the first time ever, River Forest created an Affordable Housing Plan, and I applaud the Trustees that pushed this issue to the forefront. There was significant community involvement in creating the plan: 

• The Trustees appointed a commission made of community members to prepare the Plan; 

• The commission held four public meetings (October 2019, January 2020, March 2020, and May 2020) 

• At each commission meeting, members of the public made public comments, written and/or oral. 

• Finally, at the June 2020 Board meetings, the Affordable Housing Plan was discussed extensively, including by members of the public. Commission members answered questions. And, finally, the Plan was passed by most of the Board of Trustee members. 

Though this plan was not unanimously accepted by all members of the community, I feel the Board acted appropriately by ensuring community involvement and actively progressing on the development of the plan. Though there are still milestones to be accomplished and there is a lot more work to be done, I believe the Board’s entertainment of this issue and subsequent development of a plan was significant. My hope is that River Forest will exceed state mandates for affordable housing and there will not be the need for another plan in the future. As a Trustee, I look forward to ensuring that affordable housing considerations remain at the forefront of new and existing developments.

8. How do you define racial equity? Have recent events and discussions in the larger community informed or changed your thinking?

Racial equity simply put is equal access and treatment regardless of race. Over the past year we have seen to many examples where that has not been the case. I have been privy to issues arising in River Forest that need to stop. As an African American, a business owner and a father of two African American daughters, I have taken on the challenge of showing that diversity creates excellence. By increasing diversity initiatives in our hiring and community development we can begin to make progress down that path. Change sometimes takes a while, but progress can happen immediately if we try. I have become encouraged by River Forest’s support toward issues like the Black Lives Matter Movement but have also noticed an uptick in both overt racist activity and microaggressions as well. I believe we can begin to make a step-change by recognizing that marginalized groups may have different needs and taking this into consideration when we set policies and strategic initiatives. 

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

As I alluded to in the previous question, the more the inclusive the feedback the better the outcome. With that in mind I plan to work to increase the opportunities to engage with the Board and its initiatives. Barriers could include resident access to community information and lack of awareness to the history of the issue and/or the timing or methodology used to bring about a resolution. 

I see the role as Trustee as a liaison between government and the constituents we serve. As a Board member I will work to make all people feel their opinions count. I feel this can be accomplished by continuing to develop creative ways of communicating the Village’s business with our community. The current board has taken steps in the right direction with increasing the modes of community communication and involvement, as well as increasing the ways our community can access village Board meetings. I feel we need to continue to avail ourselves of emerging technology to ensure our community engagement reaches as many of our constituents as possible.

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

As an individual who suffers from a disability, I am acutely aware of the accessibility needs. Similar to affordable housing mandates, as a Board it is imperative, we ensure we are not only meeting mandated levels set by the State, but we also must excel in our efforts to do things to the benefit of everyone in our community. As a Board, we need to ensure we are we are following ADA standards consistently, at minimum, and identify areas where it is worthwhile to exceed these standards. We will need to develop and monitor technological upgrades to ensure our communications to our constituents are also compliant. As a Trustee, I will not stop at just compliance. We need to listen the accessibility needs expressed by our residents and work with other River Forest governmental bodies to ensure uniform compliance and accessibility. 

11. How can the Village encourage and support locally-owned businesses in River Forest?

Economic development not only includes generating new developments, but it also includes supporting the growth of existing businesses. The Board does a great job with listing new businesses in the “Shop Locally” section of the Village website. Additionally, during the pandemic, the Board relaxed fees and requirements to help our local businesses better bear the brunt of the economic burdens. I believe we should continue to reach out to our small businesses and let them define how the Village can assist them. Assisting with federal grants and possibly encouraging a small business development group where they can collaborate and develop best practices, are ideas I would pursue as Trustee. 

12. The Village Board passed an Affordable Housing Plan last June, which included a number of specific actions to be considered by village commissions. What is your stance on affordable housing in River Forest, and which, if any, of those actions would you push forward?

As stated earlier, affordable housing is an ongoing issue for our Board and the community at large. We need to embrace this issue head on and develop “out of the box” thinking to increase our affordable housing options. Since River Forest is a small community, creative thought like that used to develop the six goals listed in the Affordable Housing Plan, help to inspire ways we can have that out of the box thinking. As a real estate attorney, I am particularly interested in the amendments to existing zoning ordinances to include Accessory Dwelling Units. I feel this will enable our small Village to expand upon our service of affordable housing. 

13. What impact can a municipality such as River Forest have on climate change, and how will you prioritize that work among other issues? [For incumbents: What actions have you taken in office with respect to climate change?]

Environmental accountability continues to be of high importance to our residents and we have a strong sustainability commission in place. This commission works tirelessly to promote sustainable practices, to conserve natural resources and protect our environment. As Trustee I would hope to champion the current sustainability projects while also growing community engagement to identify further innovative ideas in the future. I also believe a municipality’s impact can grow further with the collaboration of other internal governing bodies, and with the help of like-minded visionaries in surrounding communities. This would help River Forest take on larger sustainability goals as well. My firm currently works with utilities appearing regularly in front of the Illinois Commerce Commission for regulatory issues. We have recently placed an emphasis on renewable energy and resources. I hope to provide direct insight that would be valuable to our ongoing quest toward minimizing the impact of climate change. 

14. What are your plans for collaborating with our neighboring communities? What specific steps would you take in relation to the recent Twin Village Covenant with Maywood?

I expect to be integral in the ongoing development of building alliances with our neighboring communities, including Maywood. I agree with those who say each community must get behind this and work to develop ideas for this to grow. I intend to directly help gather more River Forest engagement with our residents by showing how our communities are more alike than different, that we share similar goals and values for our communities. As stated earlier, I believe through collaborative efforts between bordering communities we can avoid duplicative work. I also believe that the diversity of ideas that are generated by the communities will allow us to innovate and grow much further than we would alone. 

15. Do you think River Forest’s TIF Districts have been a good and effective use of taxpayer funds? What material benefits have the North Avenue and Madison TIFs had? Should they be continued?

I believe TIF districts are a good use of taxpayer funds because they help support economic development. As stated earlier, I believe River Forest needs further economic development. TIF’S can be used encourage new business to consider developing in our community, businesses that would otherwise not come to River Forest. It is important to remember that River Forest’s largest shopping area, The River Forest Town Center, was, in part, started on a TIF. New businesses that take advantage of TIF’s create businesses that generate additional tax revenues for the Village. If done right, this revenue generation could assist in bringing down property taxes. For this reason, I am in support of TIF’s and hope to work with the community to use them to bring in businesses of need and want to our community. 

16. What are your ideas for new partnerships with other taxing bodies within River Forest?

We currently have 7 taxing bodies. While it is true that we serve different needs, we also have similarities that we could collaborate on and avoid duplicative work. Additionally, many issues faced by the Board have elements of other taxing bodies. Issues like support for our aging population, sustainability issues and our ongoing diversity issues could benefit from a collaborative approach. By working together on these issues, we avoid inconsistencies between the Village and other taxing authorities. 

• • • • •

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