An Oak Park Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday erupted in anger and high tensions after members of a group supporting a permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war pressed the board to take a voice vote on the issue during a time they could not do so.
The flashes of anger traveled both ways: to and from the audience and board members, including Village President Vicki Scaman.
The tensions were so high that Scaman eventually snapped at hecklers, Trustee Susan Buchanan intervened to deflect harsh comments and Police Chief Shatonya Johnson spoke privately to some audience members, asking them to calm down.
For example, when one resident spoke out against the proposal, several supporters cried “lies!” from the audience.
Buchanan then scolded seated attendees who interrupted the speaker.
“You will stop heckling our Jewish residents,” she said, pointing her finger at the audience.
The incident happened during the non-agenda public comment portion of the meeting. The Illinois Open Meetings Act requires municipalities to offer the public time to speak on any issue. It does not require board members to address those comments, and Oak Park’s trustees often don’t. That’s because some actions, such as taking a vote, could violate the act’s requirement to give the public notice before votes are taken.
Individuals from the Committee for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel and other community members presented trustees a petition that urges the board to pass a resolution backing a ceasefire. About 20 people spoke to support or oppose this resolution.
In an unusual move, Scaman addressed the audience before the public comment section began. She announced the board was not planning to pass a ceasefire resolution.
“As much as I really do want to hear all of the public comment that is here this evening, I do have a statement,” she said. “We [the board] are all behind this statement, which is completely in support of our community, but it is not moving forward with an additional resolution.”
She later took that initial statement back and apologized. Scaman also confirmed with Wednesday Journal she spoke with each board member one-on-one, and they agreed her prepared statement, that she later read, was OK.
But her initial words did not go over well with some of the petition’s supporters.
One community member called it “disrespectful” and left. Another said it was “outrageous” in their public comment.
From there, it escalated.
Behind the petition
Caren Van Slyke, a founder and chair of CJPIP, posted a petition the group is circulating that calls for “an immediate permanent ceasefire, the provision of immediate and unconditional lifesaving humanitarian aid in Gaza, and the release of all hostages.” It seeks 500 signatures. As of April 11, more than 300 individuals signed it.
“We are not asking you to take a side, but to take the side of justice and peace,” Van Slyke, who said she is Jewish, added during public comment at the board meeting.
CJPIP is a community-based group “dedicated to organizing activities and educational events that advance the cause of peace and justice for both Palestinians and Israelis,” according to the group’s website. The group states it supports other initiatives, including equal rights, an end to the Israeli occupation of Gaza and other areas, and an end to all forms of terror.
According to its website, the group responds to breaking events and engages with elected officials to enlist support for “positive” legislative initiatives.
The petitioners are asking Oak Park to join other municipalities in passing the resolution and working toward “a just and lasting peace.” In February 2024, Reuters reported that roughly 70 U.S. cities, including Chicago, passed resolutions asking for a ceasefire on the Israel-Hamas war.
About 67% of voters support the United States called for a permanent ceasefire and de-escalation of violence, according to a survey from Data for Progress.
The international war and reaction to it often hit close to home.
According to a 2023 WBEZ article, Cook County has more Palestinian residents, totaling more than 18,000, than any other county in the U.S. And according to a 2020 study, about one in 18 Metropolitan Chicago households have at least one Jewish resident.
Discussions about the Israel-Hamas war have also created tension at the Oak Park and River Forest High School. Pro-Israel and pro-Palestine students and parents at the school have reported unfair treatment, Wednesday Journal reported.
And at the Oak Park Public Library, controversy over the handling of a Palestinian cultural event may have contributed to the firing of Executive Director Joslyn Bowling Dixon.
Needless to say, currents of angst, hurt and outrage ran throughout Oak Park even before Tuesday’s meeting began.
Public comments
The room was clearly divided. Those in favor of a resolution roared in applause after their like-minded neighbors spoke. When those who opposed the resolution spoke, their supporters, a much smaller contingent, clapped, too.
Carollina Song, who said she is Jewish and backed the resolution, also said she does not want to see justice dismissed as something divisive.
“Silence encourages a tormentor, never the tormented,” Song said, quoting Elie Wiesel, author of “Night,” a memoir based on Wiesel’s experience during the Holocaust.
“I find it egregious that a village so hellbent on marketing themselves as progressive needs to debate the need for a ceasefire,” Laurel Niedospial, who also said she is Jewish, added during public comment.
“When these children [affected by the war] ask ‘who cared about us?’ I would like to say Oak Park did,” Faisal Alabsy said.
Another commenter said he expected the board to vote.
“The community deserves that each of you go on the record, ‘yea or nay’ and not just hide behind ‘well, we went in the back room and thought about it,’” he said.
Rasheda Jackson, assistant village attorney, confirmed the board cannot not take an official vote on an item that is not on the agenda.
Hajjar Herbert, an Arab-American woman of Palestinian descent who supported the resolution, said she’s afraid to check her phone because she doesn’t want to hear that a loved one was killed. The U.S. government has failed victims and hostages in this war, she said.
“I stand here today committed to peace because it is the only way to save lives,” she said. “If our village were to support a ceasefire, it would be sending a message that Oak Park is committed to peace and the protection of innocent lives.”
Other residents opposed a ceasefire resolution.
Rabbi Max Weiss of Oak Park Temple said he does not wish for the village to pass a ceasefire resolution and wants to focus instead on local efforts and making the community a “welcoming” one.
“You already got what you wanted,” an attendee from the crowd yelled, speaking out of turn, and referring to Scaman’s opening statement.
Mark Segal, who said he is Jewish, also added that he’s against a ceasefire resolution, adding that he does not want to alienate the local Jewish community.
“Although a resolution will have no impact on Gaza, it will thrust village government into an international conflict for which it has no responsibility or expertise, certainly exacerbating tensions in Oak Park,” he said.
“The resolution initially seems to check all of the boxes for acceptable wording … but it has many problems,” Judith Alexander said. “Oak Park’s Jewish population feels frightened and alone.”
Scaman’s statement and board response
The board did not vote on any resolution or make a final decision about how they’d like to move forward.
Scaman, however, did read her full prepared statement after the 20 or so comments concluded.
Before reading it, the same few attendees vehemently interrupted her. Scaman, after asking them to stop interrupting several times, lost her composure.
“You interrupted several commenters who were here to do the same thing you were, and engage us in democracy,” the visibly angry village president said. “You are done.”
As a few audience members continued to interrupt, she resorted to threatening to have them removed from the meeting.
“You have been insulting to this board that does not deserve to be insulted,” she said. “Enough, enough, enough!”
In an interview with Wednesday Journal, Scaman called her opening statement a “misstep” and said the irritation board members exhibited was not without empathy. If residents had reached out ahead of time, she said, officials could have better understood their goals and helped those residents learn how to get a resolution on the agenda.
Van Slyke said she did reach out to the board by email ahead of the meeting.
Scaman reiterated that she does not support a ceasefire resolution, adding that doing so “goes beyond the scope of our role as a municipal government.”
She also added that she is hoping to continue conversations with the residents present at Tuesday’s meeting.
“We do want to continue to be responsive so that people feel heard,” she said.
Scaman said she would like to engage in conversations with members of the board and other conversations “in a restorative justice manner” about this topic, but not necessarily at the board table. She also suggested a village-sponsored mural or cultural event.
At the meeting, Buchanan said it was the most difficult meeting she’s attended and was frustrated by what she said was the way audience members insinuated the board did not care.
“I saw Oak Parkers at their worst,” she said. “Their treatment of people who reasonably disagreed with their position was unacceptable.”
A refusal to act or legal compliance?
Some attendees at the Oak Park village board meeting called for trustees to vote on the proposed ceasefire resolution, and appeared visibly upset when the board didn’t.
But trustees couldn’t.
Why not?
Doing so would have violated the Illinois Open Meetings Act, a law that attempts to provide governmental openness and transparency while offering protocols for the exchange of information between the public and the government.
The Oak Park Village Board of Trustees is a “public body” as defined by the Office of the Illinois Attorney General and, as a result, falls under the act’s restrictions.
Those restrictions include that the public body – or most governmental entities, and in this case, the village board – must post an agenda at least 48 hours in advance of a meeting. That means the board, under those rules, cannot add an item to the agenda less than 48 hours before the meeting if it intends to take an action on the item.
According to the Village of Oak Park’s protocols, adopted Feb. 6, 2024, the agenda for a Tuesday board meeting is made public the Friday prior at noon. To add a new item to the agenda, the village president or a trustee with a seconded motion can make a request to the village manager. Any board feedback is due to staff prior to 9 a.m. on the Friday before a Tuesday board meeting.
If Oak Park’s village board intended to vote on the ceasefire resolution at the April 9 meeting, it would have had to have included the item on the agenda by April 5 to account for the weekend. The agenda was published without it, so the board could take no action. Actions include voice votes.
However, the act also requires that public meetings have space for people to comment. For those speaking about the resolution on April 9, that was during the “non-agenda” portion of public comment. Non-agenda public comment is where anyone can address trustees about anything that is not on the published agenda.
The board is permitted to develop parameters for non-agenda public comment. According to published protocols, trustees “will not respond to public comments as a part of the meeting or enter into discussion with a commenter as a part of the meeting.” There are exceptions to this.
“The Village President will respond and at the conclusion of the public comment by noting that staff will follow-up on the matter,” the protocols read.
There are no guarantees that public comments will result in board action or agenda items being added to later meetings.
— Luzane Draughon
