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 President?

Canddiate video response

We are living in an unprecedented time, when things have the opportunity to change for the better. I  believe that serving as Oak Park Village Trustee, I can help us navigate the multiple changes that  we are going to face working with all the stakeholders, from other board members, to Village staff, to  current and future Oak Parkers who will benefit from our board decisions. I bring the ability and  stamina to engage in the messiness of problem solving complex issues. I also bring a commitment  to setting clear goals and pushing myself and my colleagues to be accountable to those goals for  recovery, being responsive, and for putting substantive ideas on the table that reimagine Oak Park.  Lastly, I am a rower who understands the importance of showing up ready, you can read more about how rowing impacted my readiness here.

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

Our community is going through deep reckoning at the moment and the world is watching what we  do. In the next four years, we have the opportunity to solve multiple problems in ways that can  make Oak Park a model for other near suburban communities. I believe we need to do three things  exceedingly well: 

1. Make sure our Village is able to reopen safely, including having a robust vaccine rollout that  will culminate in this fall and mental health program that will support villagers as they adjust  to the changed world 

2. Help our business community build back better with a more diverse set of businesses  moving into Oak Park because it is an attractive place to do business with a vibrant and  safe community 

3. Be aggressive in tackling and solving issues that create disparities in Oak Park, including affordable housing development, policing, and budgeting. 

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

I always start from a place of humility and curiosity. There are things that others know and are  passionate about that may be “blind spots” for me. I have a track record of going into new cultures  and new organizations and being a student while I substantively add to the organization. For  example, I have been a student in Barcelona and regional marketing director in Hong Kong and  Singapore at different times in my life. All three of those cities/ regions have their own cultures where the perception of an American can mean cool, brash, or uncaring. I thrived in those  environments because I genuinely cared for my colleagues and their cultures without losing sight  of my objective for being in anyone of those places.  

As Oak Park trustee, I plan to reach out to the community to hear as many voices on issues as  possible. I want to make sure that Villagers feel heard and that staff has clear direction. That will  take compromise from all board members, but our job is to make the Village efficient. We cannot  have them do one thing and then suddenly do something else. That will tear us apart in the long  run.

4. What values would you bring to the budgeting process? What changes do you favor in the process by which the Village conducts its budgeting and fiscal planning?

I bring openness to new ideas, curiosity to understand the needs of different stakeholders, and  the discipline to articulate an expectation for how our tax funds should be used. I also want to  see our budgeting process become more transparent and collaborative across governmental  bodies. My plan would allow us to begin the budgeting process in three phases - 1) early  identification of collaborative purchasing for near term cost savings, 2) long-term planning  perspective across taxing bodies, and 3) compilation of tax levies and level setting with the  community on key priorities. This would be a multi-month plan that would potentially help our  community see a more comprehensive budget. 

5. How will you balance the community's desire to reduce the property tax burden with the promotion of equity, diversity, and quality of life in the Village?

These things do not require balance, in my mind. We need to have an efficient budget. Equity,  diversity and quality of life should be the output of an efficient budget and shouldn’t be carved  out into separate plans. If my fellow trustees feel like some of our budgetary decisions are out  of balance with equity, diversity or quality of life, we should discuss what they see outside of a  board meeting. I recognize that sometimes others may see perspectives that I do not. By benefiting from their point of view I can learn and help them see my point of view. In  compromise we will get the budget passed and supported. 

One thing that I feel does need to be addressed is how people live in Oak Park and how they  feel about living in Oak Park. We, as Oak Park, have a rich history of continuing to push on  equity issues and I intend to continue to put equity as part of our North Star that we continue  to work toward.

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

We have to be clear that equity means different things to different people depending on their  lived experiences. My definition of equity is that it is a process that continually renews as we  grow and our environment changes. For example, environmental equity is a term we would never have thought of in the 1970’s, yet the action of the 1970’s contributed to the inequities of  today’s environment and many cities in the U.S. and countries around the world feeling the inequity of today’s climate crisis. 

When I graduated college we worried about the digital divide in the country, today I worry about the data divide and what that will mean to communities of color, including Latinx communities, will be facing the disparity of health data that could inform better care in the future. You can see a panel I moderated about Latinx health disparities here.

7. 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?

As part of my Diversity and Equity Plan I propose to push our meetings out to the  communities that are likely to be affected by our decisions. This will have technical challenges  for sure, but it will address the disparities in our lived experiences and the implications of our  decisions as a board. This is one way to address barriers by bringing the decisions to the  people that are facing the ramifications. There are other ways and I welcome learning about  ways to bring more feedback into the process that will bring us to the best decision. 

8. How will you help smaller and locally-owned businesses survive and thrive in Oak Park, especially in the wake of the pandemic? Do you believe it is appropriate for the Village of Oak Park to provide incentives or supports specifically directed toward minority-owned businesses? Why or why not?

I have a five-point business recovery plan that is focused on making Oak Park small businesses  competitive with the dual challenges of e-commerce and the pandemic. The plan focuses on two  main levers, encouraging and supporting our businesses to access SBA funds and grants and  developing localized incentives to put Oak Parkers and neighboring communities to work in a  thriving store or business in Oak Park. I believe these two levers do two important things 1) they  bring in federal money so that the taxpayer is taking less of a risk on new businesses and 2) they  help us elevate the surrounding communities so that they can contribute to the regional economic  growth around Oak Park. You can read more about the full plan here. 

9. Rental units comprise about 41% of Oak Park’s housing stock. In what ways should the Village better serve the needs of renters who reside in our community?

My diversity and equity plan means to try to bring some of the issues that renters have  brought into the regular dialogue for the Village Manager and the Village Board. Specifically, I  am calling for a citizen commission that will raise and prioritize issues where renters are  disproportionately affected by ordinances or resolutions.  

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

I have already begun reaching out to leaders in neighboring communities and in other communities where they are also struggling with similar issues to Oak Park. More specifically my business recovery plan and reimagining plan. will be targeting cross border collaborations to employ individuals from Austin, Berwyn, Elmwood Park,  and Maywood in our stores and to build civic and business leadership from our great nearby  universities like Dominican. Our reimaging plan will also focus on ways for us to share  resources with surrounding communities in ways that can alleviate costs for all of our regional  partners. 

11. How will you work with your colleagues to ensure that Oak Park remains economically and racially diverse? Give an example of an initiative you support that would have a significant positive impact on racial or economic diversity.

There is a great video of how the Oak Park regional housing center really contributed to the  diversity of Oak Park. The OPRHC  was essential in building diversity as you can see in the video, but the work needs to continue. I  would work with my colleagues to look at the funding of the OPRHC to see how we can continue to  improve the work that it does and build the racial and economic diversity of Oak Park. In addition,  we need to work more transparently with the OPEDC so that they are selling all of the benefits of  the community, not just the high incomes and proximity to Oak Park, but the fact that businesses  that are small can thrive here and that the diversity of villagers leads to greater innovation  opportunities for stores and restaurants. 

12. What do you see as the most pressing issue relating to housing in Oak Park? What policies would you advocate to address this issue? Do you consider support for affordable housing to be a core function of our village government? Why or why not?

If you look back at the work of Oak Park Regional Housing Center, it has been one of the key  reasons why Oak Park is as integrated as it is. The Village needs to continue supporting  organizations that deliver on an integrated and diverse community. I am cautious about the Village  getting ahead of itself and creating a core objective on affordable housing because there are historic  cases in Oak Park where Bobbie Raymond points out that there were affordable housing stock that  were essentially left derelict.

I will advocate for putting in a percentage of integrated affordable housing in developments similar to  what London and Falls Church, VA have done. And if developments meet the criteria, they can  potentially get fast tracked. 

13. What impact can a municipality such as Oak Park have on climate change, and how will you prioritize that work among other issues?

Oak Park can be a leader in addressing climate change. It has a sustainability fund that the Villagers  continue to contribute to and a climate action plan that is very comprehensive. Now we need to put  the money to use against the plan and measure the impact. As part of the environment and energy  commission, I was also an advocate for seeking out federal and state funding from Dept of Energy,  Environmental Protection Agency, and others to make Oak Park a model of green initiatives and 

14. In recent months there have been calls to defund the police or reimagine public safety in Oak Park. How do you define public safety? Would you begin from the premise that the Village's police budget should increase, decrease, or remain flat? Why?

I believe that we have to set a vision for what the police will be doing in Oak Park in the future before  we decide what budget is needed. I would make this a priority with the community as part of an  equity commission which I advocate for to come with a recommendation that will be discussed with  the Police Chief and other relevant stakeholders. We simply cannot come in with an agenda for one  budget or another. We need clear objectives about what we want to accomplish and then make sure  that we are funding that objective efficiently. 

15. What do you see as the most pressing issues relating to development in Oak Park, both residential and commercial? What policies would you advocate to address those issues? In which areas of Oak Park would you prioritize residential and commercial development?

We have created a lot of density in central Oak Park and I want to see the impact of that density.  Our businesses there should be thriving, not closing. We need to learn from the last four years of  growth and ask if we are really getting everything out of the development plans and I would be an  advocate for development near our neighboring communities, Berwyn, Elmwood Park, and Austin  so that we can attract more commerce to other districts beyond downtown. I envision a connected,  safe, and walkable Oak Park for all ages where multiple business districts are connected by historic  architectural walking trails. 

16. Following work done in Evanston, recent community discussions have focused on reparations for Black Oak Parkers, with particular interest in policy changes to help support Black home ownership. Are you supportive of reparations, in principle? Would a discussion on this issue be helpful to the Oak Park community? How should such a discussion proceed?

I believe that Oak Park can lead on equity. Throughout my career I have advocated for equity,  restoration, and the elevation of Black people to compensate for historic wrongs. But let’s be  realistic that there are still wrongs occurring throughout the country today. We don’t want to rest  the balance of equity on just one thing. In my opinion it's not just one single thing. Advocating for  the restoration and elevation of wronged groups is the basis of all equity movements.  

17. Advisory referenda have appeared on the ballot in Oak Park over the past few years at the direction of the Village Board. Do you believe non-binding referenda such as these are a useful tool for governance or civic engagement? Why or why not?

Having lived in California, I have an extreme respect for referenda. We had Prop 187 which created  significant disparities with the Latino immigrant community and fueled fear for more than a decade  in the state. Non-binding referenda are important if they allow people to vote on a specific  ordinance on which the electorate can be educated. “Oak Park should contribute to stopping  climate change,” is not an appropriate referendum. “Oak Park should utilize its sustainability fund  within the next year on activities that will address climate change,” is a clearer, more actionable 

18. Oak Park Trustees share responsibility for oversight of the Collaboration for Early Childhood. Do you support this example of intergovernmental cooperation? Are there other types of intergovernmental cooperation that you would support?

The Collaboration for Early Childhood continues a record of stewardship of programs like the  Oak Park Regional Housing Center which directly contribute to making Oak Park unique. I am  in favor of continuing collaboration with other taxing bodies for purchasing contracts like the  following: 

1. Compostable dinnerware and packaging which can give the village and D200 greater  buying power to demand discounts for the school and to extend those discounts to  village restaurants, if desired by the restaurants 

2. Waste hauling and compost hauling to make it more affordable for all residents and  businesses 

3. Collaboration with the township on creating a concerted mental health support services  which are going to be essential during and following the pandemic 

We can also ensure these get done on a regular basis by putting intergovernmental  cooperation on the executive’s performance reviews.