Another member of the economic development team at Oak Park’s village hall has departed. Cam Davis, a seven-year veteran of the turmoil ridden department, announced his retirement in the spring and was feted at a retirement party on June 26.
In remarks at the event hosted by Anfora Wine Merchants, 128 S. Marion St., Davis described his seven years at Oak Park’s village hall. He said the first five years when he worked for Cara Pavlicek, the former village manager, and Tammie Grossman, the now retired head of Development Services, were great. Davis said a lot was accomplished in that era and pointed to the role he was assigned to improve relationships with various business district associations in Oak Park and with individual small businesses.
However, Davis said the past two years “have been very hard.” He did not mention Village Manager Kevin Jackson or Brandon Crawford, the recently fired economic vitality administrator, by name.
“It has felt like I’m the last man standing,” he said. “I hope I’m the last departure from village hall.”
Davis gave a shout out to John Melaniphy, recently hired as assistant village manager for economic vitality. He said he had known Melaniphy for many years and described him as a “great professional.”
Emily Egan and Sean Keane were both in attendance at the event. Egan worked as the village’s head of development services for a year before resigning from the village in February. In her exit interview with Oak Park’s human resources staff, a copy of which was obtained by Wednesday Journal through a Freedom of Information Act request, Egan described village hall as a “toxic work environment.” Keane, who ran municipal parking administration for the past four years, resigned from village hall in June and also described the work environment as “toxic.”
Egan took up a post as North Suburban Wilmette’s economic development director after leaving Oak Park. She has since recruited Keane to join her in Wilmette’s municipal government.
The retirement party for Davis was organized by the leaders of three Oak Park business districts. Downtown Oak Park, the Arts District and the Hemingway District coordinated the party.
In closing his remarks to the large crowd Davis said, “Keep paying attention to what is happening at village hall. Keep reading what is reported. The article on Emily Egan got almost everything right.”
He said that he expected Wednesday Journal would obtain a copy of his exit interview from village hall. “Everything I said came from my heart.”
