Oak Park has tabbed its long-serving village planner as the right person to take lead its economic development efforts.
Craig Failor will step into the Development Services Department director’s role on the village’s senior staff Monday Feb. 24, as Emily Egan moves on from Oak Park Village Hall after one year of service. Failor has worked as Oak Park’s village planner and planning and urban design manager for the last 22 years, according to a village news release about the promotion.
Oak Park Village Manager Kevin Jackson said Failor was a clear candidate to take over the department’s leadership.
“We are thrilled to elevate Craig to this important leadership position within our organization,” Jackson said in the news release. “He is well-respected within the organization and his experience working on behalf of the residents and businesses here in Oak Park speaks for itself. All of that, and more, will serve him incredibly well as our new Development Services director. I am confident that it will be a seamless transition for him, and for the many staff members under his guidance. I have no doubt that he will keep the department on its upward trajectory when it comes to service delivery for the people of Oak Park.”
The village’s development director is responsible for overseeing building permits and inspections, business services, parking, village planning, historic preservation and zoning. Failor has experience helping manage many of those processes through his work as village planner, according to the release.
Failor has been a working member and manager of the ad hoc Madison Street Coalition and Roosevelt Road Advisory Committee, and has played a key role in various economic development projects. He serves as the staff liaison to the Plan Commission and Community Design Commission, while also supervising the staff liaisons to the Zoning Board of Appeals and Historic Preservation Commission, according to the release.
Through those responsibilities, the Development Services director’s top goal is to drive economic vitality and development throughout the village.
“I truly appreciate the confidence Village Manager Jackson has in me to carry on the important and significant work being performed by the Development Services department as its Director,” Failor said in the release.
The Development Services director title is a relatively new one in Oak Park, originating from village leadership’s 2023 decision to split the sprawling Development Customer Services Department into two separate entities: Development Services and Neighborhood Services.
Prior to his start with Oak Park in 2003, Failor had worked in city planning roles for the governments of Barrington, Belvedere and Lombard.