Oak Park fired one of its high-ranking staff members not long after one of his peers resigned citing a toxic workplace environment.
Brandon Crawford, who served as the village’s economic vitality administrator, was terminated from his position April 25, according to documents obtained by Wednesday Journal via a Freedom of Information Act request. Crawford did not respond to a message requesting comment for this story through his professional social media last week.
His termination letter cited conflicts with colleagues among the reasons for his dismissal.
“Significant concerns with your behavior and performance have persisted,” the letter said. “In particular, you have demonstrated poor communication, lack of follow-through on direction from your supervisor, inadequate project management and productivity, failure to consistently demonstrate a sense of teamwork, failure to adhere to workplace policies and procedures, a lack of problem-solving ability, poor relationship management and a lack of ownership and responsibility for your role in interpersonal conflicts.”
The move from the village came a few weeks after former Development Services Director Emily Egan resigned from her position. The village announced Egan and Crawford’s hirings at the same time in January 2024, as the village projected a new vision for its economic development management in the wake of its decision to stop funding the Oak Park Economic Development Corporation and the retirement of Tammie Grossman, the longtime director of Oak Park’s sprawling development customer services department.
“[Egan and Crawford] are going to be really good assets to our team,” Village Manager Kevin Jackson said at the time. “They’ll be able to grow with the village and the community.”
Less than 18 months later, both leaders are gone from village hall. Jackson did not respond to an interview request for this story.
Craig Failor, the longtime village planner, was elevated to the development services director position upon Egan’s departure. The village’s development director is responsible for overseeing building permits and inspections, business services, parking, village planning, historic preservation and zoning.
Crawford had originally interviewed for the development services director position, but after hiring Egan for that role the village brought Crawford on as well. They initially offered him a title of assistant development services director, but created the Economic Vitality Administrator role with the hope that Crawford would use his background in real estate, city planning and business to manage a number of projects for the village, according to documents associated with his hiring.
Egan turned in her letter of resignation to Jackson on Feb. 7 ahead of taking a community development leadership post in north suburban Wilmette. In her exit interview Egan described dealing with a “toxic work environment” and not feeling supported while navigating conflicts with colleagues, according to documents associated with her resignation and obtained by Wednesday Journal via FOIA.
“Lack of support and/or belief of my side of the story when my supervisor was attempting to listen to the challenges for myself and within my department due to specific interpersonal issues,” Egan wrote in an exit interview questionnaire about her least favorite part of working at village hall.
In documents associated with Crawford’s dismissal, village leaders described repeated conflicts between him and Egan. The village had hired an “executive coach” to help Crawford and his coworkers collaborate productively, to unsatisfactory results, according to the documents.
“The village also made several attempts to create role clarity, resolve internal conflicts and enhance your ability to succeed, including providing you with an executive coach, removing you from the Development Services Department via special assignment and physically relocating your office, and permanently changing your title and removing you from the Development Services Department,” the termination letter said.
The village has an open job posting for two Economic Vitality Administrator roles, advertising a salary range of $111,000 to $160,950. Oak Park is also hiring for a Parking and Mobility Services Manager position within its Office of Development Services.
