My husband and I attended one of the recent Shape the Village presentations at the Community Recreation Center. The room was overflowing — far too small for the hundreds of concerned residents who showed up. The format was a 30-plus minute presentation, and while questions came up throughout, the response was consistently, “We’ll get to that.” Too often, that follow-up or clarification never came.
Instead, at the end, a small group of poorly identified staff and consultants were spread out in the two rooms to field individual questions from small groups in the crowd. As such, it was hard to hear questions or answers. One attendee suggested it would be far more efficient to address common questions for everyone at once, rather than one-on-one. That idea went nowhere.
This isn’t an isolated experience. Recent initiatives, including some of the traffic-calming changes now disrupting many neighborhoods and last year’s leaf collection changes, follow a similar pattern: residents raise concerns, and the process moves forward largely unchanged. When that happens repeatedly, it sends an unintended but real message that community input isn’t shaping outcomes.
I’d urge village leaders to rethink how information like this is shared. Rather than a one-directional presentation followed by informal side conversations, a true open forum, where questions are addressed for the whole room, in real time, would go a long way toward rebuilding trust. Testimony at Plan Commission meetings, offered after key decisions already feel settled, isn’t an adequate substitute for that dialogue.
Oak Park residents want to be heard, not just informed. I hope our elected leaders will treat that as a priority going forward. Oak Park deserves better.
Jennifer GoodSmith
Oak Park