I’m supporting Ravi Parakkat for village president because we need leadership that delivers on critical needs — such as the long-overdue police station upgrade.
The need for a new police station has been acknowledged for years. In 2017, Oak Park began exploring this project, and by 2019 the village manager identified it as a top improvement priority for 2020. By February 2020, the village board approved funding for architectural proposals, estimating costs between $42 and $45 million, with completion projected in the early 2020s.
What happened next? The pandemic disrupted plans, but when Vicki Scaman became village president in 2021, the existing timeline was derailed by tying the police station to a new village hall. This change not only delayed progress but ballooned the estimated cost to north of $150M.
Fast forward to today: At the recent Municipal Open House, it became clear that we are literally back to the drawing board. The first public proposal meeting for the new plan is scheduled for June 2025 — more than five years after the board voted to take action. Like many village residents, I am frustrated by the lack of progress on an urgently needed police facility.
Ravi Parakkat offers a much-needed change. His leadership would bring transparency and decisiveness, ensuring community input is prioritized and taxpayer dollars are spent wisely. He is committed to moving key projects like this forward, not letting them languish in endless discussions.
This issue reflects a larger problem: It’s time for leadership that gets results. Ravi Parakkat is the leader Oak Park needs to move from talk to action.
Chris Saam, Oak Park
Sources:
https://engageoakpark.com/campus
