The person tabbed earlier this year to lead Oak Park’s finances into the future has resigned after a few months on the job.
Oak Park announced that it hired Carrie Marckess as the village’s finance director in late February, with her starting in that leadership role on March 3. The village confirmed this week that she had resigned from that position, and that her final day with the village would be Friday, August 8.
“The village expects to begin the recruitment for a new finance director to lead the department later this month,” Oak Park spokesperson Dan Yopchick said.
Marckess declined an interview with Wednesday Journal ahead of publication.
“I’m grateful for the time I spent serving the Village of Oak Park,” she said. “At this time, I’m choosing not to comment on my transition, as I believe the communications team at the village is best positioned to speak on any organizational matters.”
She was hired to run the village department that’s responsible for managing the village’s finances, including financial planning and analysis, budgeting, accounting, record keeping and reporting, decision support and analysis and assessment and management of financial risks and emerging trends, according to the village.
The resignation comes as Oak Park looks to dig in on finalizing its budget for 2026. The village board’s finance committee began meeting last week and discussions of the budget and other financial matters like Oak Park’s Capital Improvement Plan feature prominently in the village board’s upcoming meeting calendar for the fall.
Marckess’ onboarding included Oak Park extending Interim CFO Donna Gayden’s contract for one year before Marckess was meant to assume full leadership of the finance department.
“This will allow the new finance director to step into existing financial projects such as the annual audit, the long-term strategic planning, and the budget without losing Interim CFO Gayden’s knowledge and skills,” village staff wrote in an agenda item on the matter ahead of a March 11 board meeting. “It will also allow the finance director to make key hires, including the newly created budget manager position, while maintaining capacity for the department as a whole.”
Gayden has served as interim CFO since 2023, with her employment at village hall organized through a deal with MGT of America Consulting, according to village documents. She represented the department during last week’s finance committee meeting.
Marckess arrived in Oak Park after serving as assistant finance director for the village of Bloomingdale. Marckess has also served on the Board of Trustees and as Secretary for the Illinois Metropolitan Investment Fund.
She is the latest Oak Park departmental leader to resign this year, joining ex-Development Services Director Emily Egan and ex-village DEI head Danielle Walker.
