For anyone who has volunteered for a political campaign or cause in the past, you probably know the drill. You are moved by an issue, a candidate, a moment, and you tentatively raise your hand to join that cause and make a difference. For most of us, a tentative hand-raise (“I can maybe do 4-5 hours per week?”) turns into a full-time side job that lasts for months and pays you nothing (10 p.m. phone calls, frantic text messages, stress and heartache).
It is a wild ride, an emotional roller coaster that offers little feedback throughout the process and becomes a vacuum of hours, energy and anxiety.
But. Sometimes you might be lucky enough to work for candidates who infuse joy and community into everything they do. Such is the case with the Represent Oak Park candidates: Anthony Clark, Chibuike Enyia and Juanta Griffin.
All of the undersigned volunteered in different ways and at different stages along the campaign — a few hours for graphics, a day or two for phone banking, help with social media support. And along the way all of us have been moved by these candidates, what they stand for and what they will bring to the board table.
Yes, we are notably biased — we’ve been intentionally working to elect these candidates. We’ve been the ones working directly with them, under stressful conditions, for months! We know how they respond to pressure, how they deal with conflict and how they navigate complex situations. We have seen them celebrate and watched them process pain and grief. With that unique insight, we wholeheartedly endorse Anthony, Chibuike and Juanta to join Oak Park’s Village Board of Trustees.
They will bring an incredible blend of education (seven college degrees among them) and experience (armed services veteran, educator, nonprofit leader, small business owner, and multicultural coordinator). They are uniquely qualified to continue their public service journeys into this next chapter. And they are committed to the values we hold dear in Oak Park — community engagement, equity, service and transparency. These are three people who are deeply impacted by affordability and public safety in our village — they will be the last people to take either of those issues lightly.
Beyond their stellar qualifications, these candidates bring love, joy, care and community to everything they do. Bearing witness to their dynamic — how they hold one another accountable, how they disagree amongst themselves, and how they bring out the best in each other — has been an honor and a gift.
We volunteered for them, we will vote for them and we hope you will vote for them also.
Makesha Flournoy, Brynne Hovde, Brian Straw, Dima Ali, Shayla Bell, Donnie Biggins, Zerrin Bulut, Ziyad Dadabhoy, Suzanne Feeney, Marcy Grant, Yvonne Judice, Sue Mitra, Elle Morton, Emily Neumann, Erin Sowers, Alison Price, Jacquelyn Rodriguez, Kristina Rogers, Anjali Tekchandani, Wailin Wong, Represent Oak Park Core Campaign Team
