Oak Park Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb has reversed course, announcing he will not run a slate of candidates in the upcoming municipal election in April, saying he is philosophically opposed to slating.
Abu-Taleb ran as an independent in the 2013 election, after he was not chosen by the Village Manager Association [VMA], an Oak Park-based organization that vets and slates candidates for public office in the village, to run on its slate of candidates.
In the April election, three village trustee positions are up for grabs, along with the mayor’s and the village clerk’s position.
The VMA is currently working through its candidate selection process and is expected to announce its slate in the coming weeks.
Abu-Taleb said recently that he was considering running his own slate of candidates, but this week announced that he has chosen to go it alone as an independent.
“I think our community has moved beyond slating,” he said in a telephone interview. “A slate kind of forces people to be like-minded and doesn’t allow for diversity of thought and doesn’t allow for individuality.”
Since the last municipal election, Abu-Taleb has criticized the VMA, calling it a one-party political system in Oak Park.
Abu-Taleb said he believes slating also discourages good candidates from running for public office because if they fail to be slated by the VMA, it would be too difficult to run against the group’s slate of candidates.
“I think we deserve ideas to be debated,” he said. “I think we deserve the best people who can serve our community best.”
Candidates who have announced their intention to run in the April election include Abu-Taleb for mayor; incumbent trustee candidates Glenn Brewer and Peter Barber; and first-time trustee candidates Simone Boutet, Deno Andrews and Dan Moroney. No one has announced plans to run for the open seat for village clerk.
Oak Park’s current village clerk Teresa Powell and village trustee Colette Lueck have said they do not intend to seek reelection.
CONTACT: tim@oakpark.com
