Jon Hale, seemingly the official scribe of the newly elected Oak Park trustees, says this in a letter to the editor today. “This election outcome is not a restoration of the old order. It is the launching of a new era.”
In other words, “We’re not carrying water for the old VMA.”
Good. Because while it is inevitable in the wake of the VMA’s lopsided win last Tuesday to see a return to historic norms, that is also a disastrous point of view. Instead, let’s focus on four solid candidates with progressive, though mainstream, views winning a resounding election last Tuesday. Yes, they carried the VMA torch. Rah, rah, yech.
We can focus all we want on the many, many failings of the New Leadership/VCA candidates elected two years ago. In fact, that’s what the election last week was about-punishing a slate that blew its historic opportunity. But that view is far too short. The opening for alternative candidates over the three elections in the past four years, was leveraged entirely by the many, many failings of the VMA and its slates over the past two decades, especially the past six years.
Under the VMA watch, Oak Park was governed by uninspired and undeservedly cocky officials who were tone deaf to rising citizen concerns, who never had a vision for how Oak Park should change and develop, who couldn’t make a decision to save their lives, and who, ultimately, patronized everybody with their insincere citizen participation processes.
Yes, much of this rancor centered on Downtown Oak Park-Whiteco, the Superblock, a poorly managed TIF. But it was also seen in the village’s capitulation to the utilities at Barrie Park, the unnecessary and unworthy fights they picked with the park district, a three-year effort to open a damned animal shelter, a near total lack of nuance on preservation, and unduly harsh management/labor relations with village staff.
The VMA’s failures created an opposition force of largely fringe special interests who joined uncomfortably together for one successful election. That center couldn’t hold even long enough for two of their trustees to serve out half their terms.
And so, in the just concluded election, the fringiest folks reverted to the VCA model of harping about everything. The New Leadership Party tried to become the Junior VMA. And through craft, or luck, the VMA found four strong candidates who, according to their letter, tell us, “We are not dogmatic, partisan people. We’re all about make reasonable, reality-based-and timely-decisions for Oak Park.” In other words they are adults whose sense of self won’t come from hogging camera time on Channel 6, or clogging up decision-making just because they could.
The new trustees need to remember though that in all the raucous hand-wringing of recent years, the opposition parties taught Oak Park lessons worth learning about truly listening, genuine participation, real concern about over-development and preservation.
The VMA is not back. Its slate has won one election. And two years from now they’ll have to earn our votes anew.
