A forum last Friday morning hosted by the Business and Civic Council drew roughly 50 people and all 12 candidates for seats on the village board in the April 17 election.
Steve Strahler moderated the forum, which asked three questions, giving each of the three slates a chance to answer a question first. The slate answering first had 10 minutes, which could be divided however the slate wanted between its three candidates for four-year seats and one candidate for a two-year seat. Following slates had five minutes each to respond.
Strahler first asked the Citizens for Progressive Action (CPA) slate–first because of a draw held that morning–whether the village ought to act as a catalyst for redevelopment in areas outside Downtown Oak Park.
Jan Pate said redevelopment is a priority for the CPA (which is the slate selected by the long-established Village Manager Association). Suburban downtowns are making a comeback, and other towns have gotten ahead of Oak Park, she said.
“So we can’t afford to waste any more time,” Pate said.
Jon Hale can’t take a “do-nothing” approach. Ray Johnson, an incumbent, said the way developers and investors are treated by the village board is important. John Hedges, the CPA two-year seat candidate, said the village can’t simply leave development up to the market, or it might get undesirable developments and tenants.
The New Leadership ’07 candidates answered next. Rose Meyer, the NLP’s two-year seat candidate, said residents, the builder and the village need to talk early, before plans are drawn, to avoid last-minute criticism. Mary Shiffer said the current NLP-led board has accomplished that goal, as seen by the early public start to a possible development at the northeast corner of Lake Street and Forest Avenue. Harvey Lyon said the village should not hand out subsidies, and should look to attract regional headquarters of national companies, and national headquarters of regional companies. Barbara Dolan said the village’s policies and procedures should make it enjoyable to do business here.
Gary Schwab, of the Village Citizens’ Alliance slate, said sales taxes add very little to the village’s bottom line, that Oak Park is primarily a residential community, and that the village needs to make more out of tourism. Robert Milstein, an incumbent, said he’s pushed to get redevelopment focused off downtown and onto all of the other districts. Jim Balanoff said it was a “tragic mistake” to re-street the Marion Street mall.
The next question asked how property taxes affect housing affordability in Oak Park.
The VCA’s Schwab said redevelopment isn’t a panacea for lowering taxes and that it might be hard to lower taxes in a village that demands quality services. He suggested a realignment of the way the state funds schools as a means of local property tax relief. Milstein said developers should pay into a fund used to create and maintain affordable housing units. Annabel Abraham, the VCA’s two-year seat candidate who didn’t get a change to answer the first question, said the village needs catalyst projects, but that the board needs to keep a close watch on the money new developments bring in. Balanoff said schools, not stores, attract people to Oak Park, but that the Marion Street mall also drew people here.
The CPA’s Hale said every dollar counts when trying to lower taxes. Pate said the village’s share is small, but that it needs to do its part in restraining spending. Johnson said development subsidies need to be considered with respect to investment. He called the Whiteco deal an investment, with $1.1 million heading to schools once the project is finished, and an effort to restore the Colt Building a “subsidy” because money spent there has not yielded new tax revenues.
The NLP’s Dolan said taxes need to be controlled to keep housing affordable. Meyer said a major NLP accomplishment was the renegotiation with Whiteco for a contribution for affordable housing. Lyon said the village should encourage its employees to live in town and find ways to help them do it. Shiffer said affordable housing needs to be addressed regionally.
The final question involved leadership in governance and how being a trustee could be made a more attractive form of public service.
The NLP’s Lyon said the board manages just one employee–the village manager, and that trustees need to represent what’s best for the entire village. He encouraged including the manager in development of a vision for the village. Meyer said trustees need to provide clear objectives for staff, and then hold them accountable. Shiffer, who serves on the Transportation Commission, said the board needs to rely on its commissions more to take a first stab at issues and to hear public input. Dolan suggested a “3-2-1” approach to board meetings: like citizens, trustees should get three minutes to make their case on an issue; but because they’re trustees they should get two three-minute periods to be heard, and one vote.
The VCA’s Milstein said he became a better trustees while he served because he gained maturity and is no longer as combative as he once was. Balanoff the village is in severe danger of re-segregating and that an obsession with development has led to not paying attention to other issues. Abraham said she doubted 3-2-1 would work because trustees need to ask questions and get a lot of information on each issue. She agreed that meetings should be shorter and said no votes should be taken after 10 p.m. With less time spent in meetings, trustees could spend more time at commission meetings. Schwab said democracy is messy, and that longer meetings might result. The alternative–a board with short meetings where all of the decisions are made before the meeting–is less desirable, he said.
The CPA’s Pate said public service should be a sacrifice. “It should not be torture.” She touted her slate’s experience in serving on local boards and commissions. Hale said part of being a trustee is using the public’s trust to make decisions. Hedges, a former head of the Park District of Oak Park, warned against micromanaging. And Johnson said the CPA would provide clear, specific goals for the village manager, which has yet to be created for Tom Barwin, who took the job in August. Johnson said his slate would help create a list of doable tasks that could be tracked for performance. He said his slate would also “no longer tolerate incivility” on the board.
CONTACT: dcarter@wjinc.com