Oak Parkers can expect continued work toward making the village a more affordable, equitable and enjoyable place to live in 2024.
That’s according to Vicki Scaman, Oak Park’s village president.
In 2023, Oak Park received an “A” for climate change adaptation, helped shelter asylum-seekers, approved a new capital improvement plan, introduced a study evaluating racial equity and more. For 2024, Scaman said she’s excited about continuing to work toward the village’s climate change goals, alternative response for mental health calls, implementing more affordable housing and so much more.
“What we’re seeing today is people that are willing to, with my leadership, take that work and see it come forward in village board agendas in very tangible ways,” Scaman said.
Alternative Response Plan
In 2023, a taskforce created a report with recommendations on how best to respond to calls from individuals suffering from a mental health crisis. In the 2024 fiscal year budget, the village board allocated $1.1 million to the pilot program for alternative response.
In late January, the village board will likely hear about implementation measures for the program, Scaman said, which could include having mental health professionals respond to calls about mental health crises, ensuring quick responses and access to necessary follow-up.
“Our community has a history of being ahead of the curve when responding with compassion to mental health calls,” she said.
Climate change goals
Continuing to address climate change is a priority for the village board in 2024, Scaman said. Climate Ready Oak Park lays out goals for the village, including reducing the community’s greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
The electrification ordinance passed in 2023 will require any building constructed after Jan. 1, 2024, to be fully electric. Also, the 2024-2028 Oak Park capital improvement plan includes the biggest investment so far in active transportation for the community. The village plans to continue working toward and investing in creating a bikeable and walkable community, Scaman said.
Continuing education about changing individual behaviors, such as swapping driving for biking, encouraging residents to switch to electric vehicles or making one’s home more sustainable, is an important goal for the future, Scaman said.
Affordable housing
In February 2023, the village board agreed to have a comprehensive housing study done, the final results of which are expected to be available in March. The study will help identify where Oak Park’s gaps exist in maintaining socio-economic diversity and integration, Scaman said.
“Twenty-twenty-four is going to be a year where we continue to engage our community and have these very brave but vital and exciting conversations identifying what our true affordable housing needs are,” she said.
On paper, the village has more affordable housing options than one might expect, she said, but she anticipates learning from the study that there may not be enough affordable units for single mothers, or for people with disabilities or for those who need multiple bedrooms.
“It’s not just about reaching a certain percentage of number of affordable units,” she said. “It’s about matching that up with the community that we want to be and the population that we want to support and have because it makes us all better and stronger.”
Concentrating on creating strategic plans to reach those affordable housing goals will allow Oak Park to remain an economically diverse community, Scaman said. The challenge in meeting those goals is identifying sustainable funding sources, which she said she hopes to work on in 2024.
Diversity, equity and inclusion
Earlier in 2023, Oak Park approved a contract with the Great Cities Institute of the University of Illinois at Chicago to conduct a racial equity assessment. The results of the assessment will help ensure the village’s policies and programs are equitable, Scaman said.
“It’s an overarching goal that our community is truly embracing, working towards living and supporting our values,” Scaman said.
The assessment will potentially help Oak Park evaluate policies that have either unintentionally created barriers to racial equity or been previously ignored, Scaman said.
“I’ve witnessed, across the board, real effort being put towards challenging ourselves to be more racially equitable,” she said.
Access to government
Scaman said in 2024, she expects more discussion about access to government.
“Which, from my perspective, is re-engaging in the conversation of ‘What does open government mean in 2024?’ versus [1975], when this building [Village Hall] was built,” she said.
The village board will have to make a difficult decision about whether or not the village hall can continue to be adequate for serving the community, Scaman said, and she’s prepared to move offices if necessary. Moving would not negatively affect the day-to-day services the village provides, Scaman said, but she said she cannot predict what will happen.
The facility review committee intends to maintain historic integrity of Village Hall while modernizing it to increase access in the spirit of open government, according to the Village of Oak Park website. Voices from the historic preservation community and disability access community, as well as others, will be necessary in those decisions, Scaman said.
“I’m very proud of that path forward because not only does it just respond to ‘How do people access government?’” she said. “But it also will expand that sense of ownership over our government that encourages healthy civic engagement.”