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?

What motivates me most to seek the office of Village Clerk is my love for Oak Park. The Village of Oak Park is a big part of who I am and who I have been for my entire life and at this time in my life, I would like to devote myself to continued service to my community. I believe that my 18 years of providing high-level quality support to District 97, the four standing community-led D97 Committees, and IGOV, the coalition of all six taxing bodies that includes and invites public participation, trust, and voice has particularly prepared me for the role of Clerk. My past work includes: 

• Executive Assistant to IGOV, The Intergovernmental Body of the Village of Oak Park, for the past 5 years.

• Planning and execution of the District 97 Legislator’s Forum for the past 7 years

• Master of Ceremonies of the Multi-Cultural Festival for the past 12 years, and most recently, Co-Chair

• District 97 CLAIM Committee & Community Engagement Committee

The Village Clerk is a position that requires trust, an understanding of what is going on in Oak Park today, and faith in what Oak Park will be in the future. 

As the Village Clerk, I look forward to promoting the following: 

• Equitable access to Village Services for all residents 

• Independence from the Village Board 

• Continue to improve accessibility to all Village Services and Buildings 

• Transparency 

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?

I consider the three biggest challenges facing Oak Park in the future, and not in order of priority to be, first, the economic fall-out of COVID-19 on the community. The economic impact on families and businesses and to Village revenues will require on-going supports and services to get everyone back on their feet. The economic supports need to be considered through the lens of equity as the Village continues to holistically root out inequities. Continued policies and initiatives that identify the needs of all individuals and works to provide equitable access to services and information, is another challenge facing Oak Park. Equity would be the second challenge. Thirdly, I see a challenge in continuing to push for expanded collaboration and cooperation between the six taxing bodies. I see the role of the Clerk as a liaison of communication on these matters. I intend to use my relationship with the taxing bodies and community service organizations to gain access and information. 

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?

As the Village Clerk, my role is to advocate on behalf of the residents and aid them in their needs. As the Village Clerk, I will be focused on performing that task – aiding the residents with the issues that they have with the Village, and or the Board I vow to promote transparency, equity, inclusion, fairness, and assistance to the residents that I represent. I will not allow the opinions of the Village Trustees or my own opinions to get in the way of that mission. My goal is to make this already wonderful village even better for the people that live here. There are always was to strengthen our capacity to serve. There is always the danger of boards when they become compromised due to undue pressure - public opinion, political pressure, or business interests, to compromise what’s best for the entire community. I know first-hand the vital importance of remaining independent, that all viewpoints must have a voice, but that remaining independent of the Village Board is crucial to ensuring that the community remains the priority. The Clerk is not an advocate of policy. The Clerk does not propose changes in ordinance or law, but rather ensures those policies are being implemented according to their original intent, and that the Board operates in accordance with state law and statute. My leadership skills include attention to detail, and I have always prided myself in my ability to take in all view points and information before making final decisions. 

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?

The Clerk is currently the Village’s primary FOIA officer, and advocate for the requestor of information. It would hardly make sense to remove that from the Clerk’s office since the Clerk is the primary record and information keeper for the Village. To ask the Clerk to perform all of the statutory responsibilities and reduce the salary would serve to exclude many qualified candidates from even considering running for an office that is a full-time position. 

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

Community engagement begins with trust and sustaining that trust over time and respect of people’s perspectives and opinions. How we reach out to the individual must be an ongoing conversation. I would like to see more capacity for texting information to the community members. For some, who not on social media, or lacking internet accessibility, this is their primary mode of communication. We need to meet people in their place and in their space. 

I feel that one of the barriers to communication in the Village is the structure of the website. It is difficult to navigate and not user-friendly. I would work with the communication department to determine if this is a flaw in the software firm that is used to establish the template. An easy-to-navigate website would relieve frustration by the public when trying to access important information and data, and would thereby reduce the number of FOIA requests. I would also work closely with the other taxing bodies to decimate information, but equally as important share the concerns raised by the community. Lastly, I would as a clerk be “boots on the ground”, attending community events, utilize block parties and civic events to share information, and garner responses. 

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

Transparency to me means honesty, thorough communication. Transparency is the government's obligation to share information in a timely and thorough manner to the public. To that extent, it is the primary responsibility of the Clerk, as the official record-keeper of the village to provide that transparency. I plan to be independent of the board and to strictly focus on the needs of the people of Oak Park. I see the Village Clerk not as a political position, but as a position that brings support to the people of Oak Park. 

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

Equality to me means identifying and recognizing barriers that some have, that others do not, and addressing what supports are needed, and acting on getting those supports to who needs them. The Clerk should work to reach out to everyone and have respect for all in Oak Park to help them gain access to the same services, be given the same attention, address their concerns, and then give them a platform for their voice. None of us can fully understand the struggles and lived experiences of all of the residents of Oak Park, but I do understand that everyone needs to be heard and everyone has their own unique problems. None of us can know what people need until they have an opportunity to give voice to their needs. The Clerk can help amplify the voices in the community to help eliminate racial, economic, and physical disparities. As the Village Clerk, I will provide the same exceptional assistance to any and 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?

I plan to keep my ear to the village. How I envision the Clerk’s role is one that is never done. There will never be a point in which the residents of Oak Park are not in need of some village assistance. I plan to attend virtual and hopefully in time, face-to-face meetings with groups that I currently am unfamiliar with. I plan to engage with groups to get a better understanding of what issues they are dealing with and how I can assist them in resolving those issues. I plan to continue meeting new fellow Oak Parkers, which has been the delight of my campaign, and doing everything in the power of the Village Clerk to help those groups and individuals reach their goals. I would also reiterate that traditional means of communication often do not reach our most disaffected and in some cases most vulnerable residents in need of supports. That is where text messaging and active interaction with our social services organizations would be the first place I would begin to solicit feedback. A goal is that everyone knows how to get in contact with the village to solve problems, how to get a hold of the Clerk so that I can effectively handle each individual issue with care and devotion. 

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

As Clerk I look forward to working with other communities. As I stated in an earlier, collaboration and cooperation between entities are paramount to me. I would like to work across our village borders with the work that the Climate Action Planning Committee is looking at. Environmental initiatives are a perfect way to work with our neighboring communities. Dirty air and water do not stop at Austin, Roosevelt, Harlem, and North Avenue. We need to work with Austin, Galewood, Berwyn, and all surrounding communities to maximize impact. Existing organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce, Austin Coming Together, and others are ideal places to begin the conversation. I look forward to this dialogue, building bridges, and hopefully action. 

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?

My twelve years working on the District’s Multicultural Festival is an example of an experience that I have had that has helped me to understand different views and perspectives. The event is a vital way of highlighting the grand diversity of our community. I have learned so much about our community through this work. The engagement that I have had with our talented students, artists, and mentors has been an extraordinary way to see various experiences and viewpoints. Each year I learned more. 

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?

Some of the barriers for those who want to engage in village government in the past have been scheduling meetings and attendance with their families, jobs, and other responsibilities. I would like to see the Village adopt a hybrid of the virtual meetings that have occurred due to COVID-19, with in-person meetings. I feel that the Clerk’s office can also work to build an environment of relationships with professionals in the community who offer a treasure trove of expertise that could and should be used by the village beyond its current commission structure. My work with the community lead committees at District 97 has shown me the invaluable resources we have in our citizenry. The members of those committees have literally saved the taxpayers of Oak Park millions of dollars. 

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.

I want the village to be accessible to anyone and everyone. This is essentially an equity question. I have worked with Special Education for District 97 for 18 years. Accessibility is close to my heart. I am passionate about accessibility within facilities as well as accessibility to supports and services. I co-authored an accessibility report in 2013 for the District for the Facilities Advisory Committee. I am delighted that over the past seven years making all of our schools accessible has been a goal of the Board and Administration. As Clerk, I will do all that I can to advocate for the Disability Access Commission with its goals and plans, in particular engaging with the Chamber of Commerce and Small businesses on the value of accessibility. We as a community should demand that everyone in Oak Park has access to the same services, have the same attention, and the same respect of their voice being heard. 

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[The above answers were supplied on 2/18/21.]