The basic definition of equity is “fairness and justice in the way people are treated.” True equity is hard to realize as based on an individual’s or board’s personal or collective experiences, who gets to define what fairness and justice looks like, impacts a community’s ability to realize greater equity. 

The real challenge in realizing greater equity in the community of Oak Park, is not what Oak Park can do, but are we as a community willing to do it? 

The systemic interconnected issues that existed prior to the pandemic have been magnified by the covid virus. The biggest challenges our community faces is lack of economic, environmental and social sustainability. All community stakeholders must engage in intercommunity and intergovernmental collaboration to evaluate policies, create new policies, and eliminate current policies that are not steeped in equitable sustainability.  Equity is ultimately about the greater empowerment of those that have experienced systematic marginalization through the efforts and support of those who have greater power and privilege.

I think it is important to understand that our property tax burden starts at the state level. The state of Illinois relies much more heavily on local property taxes to fund our schools. Illinois ranks seventh in the nation for highest property taxes, while ranking 50th in the nation in the share of K-12 education revenues coming from the state.

While the impact a village trustee can have regarding a state level tax burden is not to the level that can provide substantial tax relief, I believe it is the responsibility of a trustee to invest in intergovernmental work & collaboration with stakeholders to identify ways to create property tax relief. 

The Oak Park Village is responsible for 17% of a resident’s property tax bill total. Property tax levies are applied to the equalized assessed value of a resident’s property. This past year, the levy was at 3% and 3% is still an increase.  We must evaluate how money is allocated, what current programs exist, what programs are effective, what programs need to be modified, what programs need to expire, & what new programs need to be implemented, while simultaneously focusing on affordability, as well as identifying possible new sources of revenue for the community through cannabis sales & support of small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Current policing models are reactionary that involve a response to crime, not an elimination of crime. 

We have an opportunity in Oak Park to rethink public safety, shift to holistic community policing models and review funding to determine how policing can be shifted from reactionary to proactive, addressing root cause issues that lead to crime, such as lack of opportunity that not only creates greater public safety for community members, but for police officers as well. 

Through intergovernmental and intercommunity collaboration which includes police participation, shifting to a true community policing model in which funds (the work will determine expenditures) police and the community work closely together in creative ways to create greater public safety for all can be realized.

Oak Park, Il is a village that needs to bet on small businesses. The key to building and maintaining a strong community is developing a strong ecosystem of local businesses. Small businesses and entrepreneurs are the backbones of our cities. Working in collaboration with the Oak Park Chamber of Commerce and other community stakeholders, the village board must create a community that supports mom-and-pop establishments and startups, through focusing on an ecosystem of strong small business support. 

Oak Park needs a village board that provides holistic support for small businesses and entrepreneurs from loan counseling to translation, which helps a diverse set of businesses and ideas get off the ground, survive, and hopefully thrive from tech focused to brick-and-mortar retailers. 

One way to support small businesses and entrepreneurs is to identify how to effectively utilize available resources to provide opportunities for vendors and artists to develop their businesses while directly connecting with the public. Taking an abandoned and underutilized property and turning it into a market that also serves as an incubator for small businesses, is an example of how our community can creatively support business growth. Businesses that participate in this market, along with other businesses in the community can then simultaneously work with stakeholders to ensure businesses are receiving that level of support and training that helps them identify competitors, find expanding markets/niches, become grounded, and grow. 

By giving small businesses and individuals the space, resources, and opportunity to create and thrive, we engender a sense of shared investment between entrepreneurs and the communities they serve. Turn that vacant manufacturing plant into a flea and farmers market where small businesses can display their wares in pop-up-shops. Make sure your zoning laws allow for commercial activities in homes and keep storefront rental space affordable.

From zoning regulations to tax policies, there are governmental structures that can be revamped to revitalize existing small businesses and support the formation and growth of new ones.

One of the largest complaints from small businesses around the country is that their local government seems to set up regulations to purposefully trip them up. Often, it comes down to the fact that these regulations are difficult to understand. Small business owners are crunched for time and stretched thin, so finding ways to make codes easily digestible and accessible are paramount to small business success.

This can be overcome by providing all relevant codes and regulations in one place, including auxiliary educational materials to explain why these codes are needed, and holding roundtable discussions to better understand how local governments and small businesses can work together. 

Other ideas: 

• Set Aside Space for Local Businesses in New Development — Cities can require development projects to reserve a portion of their first-floor space for small storefronts and for locally owned businesses, either as a condition of permitting or through agreements in particular projects. 
• Adopt a Business Diversity Ordinance — A Business Diversity Ordinance can ensure that independent, neighborhood-serving businesses don’t get crowded out by chains. 
• Facilitate Adaptive Reuse of Vacant Buildings — Cities can establish an Adaptive Reuse Program to help local entrepreneurs turn vacant historic buildings into new businesses. 
• Reorient Economic Development Incentives — Economic development incentive programs disproportionately favor big companies. Instead of giving public dollars to big businesses, Oak Park should redirect these resources to foster local businesses.
• Open a Small Business Office – Oak Park should create a position within city government to guide business owners through local permitting requirements, and to serve as a liaison between small businesses and policymakers. 
• Give Preference to Local Businesses in Purchasing — Oak Park should establish a preference for locally owned business in city purchasing, and include clear definitions, goal setting, and reporting to ensure that their purchasing doubles as economic development.Expand Access to Capital — Community banks supply a majority of small business loans. As their numbers have plummeted in the last decade, so too has lending to small businesses. To strengthen and expand these institutions, Oak Park should explore setting up a public partnership bank. Another helpful approach is to establish a one-stop, single-application portal for local entrepreneurs seeking loans and licenses.

I think it is important to understand that our property tax burden starts at the state level. The state of Illinois relies much more heavily on local property taxes to fund our schools. Illinois ranks seventh in the nation for highest property taxes, while ranking 50th in the nation in the share of K-12 education revenues coming from the state.

While the impact a village trustee can have regarding a state level tax burden is not to the level that can provide substantial tax relief, I believe it is the responsibility of a trustee to invest in intergovernmental work & collaboration with stakeholders to identify ways to create property tax relief. 

The Oak Park Village is responsible for 17% of a resident’s property tax bill total. Property tax levies are applied to the equalized assessed value of a resident’s property. This past year, the levy was at 3% and 3% is still an increase. 

One aspect of local government to research is how our village government is structured & operates. If a top-heavy bureaucracy exists, restructuring can occur & wasted funds can be identified that could potentially lead to property tax relief. 

I believe a misconception exists that equity work always costs money. If the right individuals are elected & hired that have backgrounds steeped in equity, that immediately eliminates the need for consultants & time-consuming initiatives in efforts to further educate based on equity. Oak Park is unaffordable for all community members, which disproportionately impacts our diverse populations. 

We must evaluate how money is allocated, what current programs exist, what programs are effective, what programs need to be modified, what programs need to expire, & what new programs need to be implemented, while simultaneously focusing on affordability.  

The health of one community directly impacts the health of other communities. In collaborating with neighboring communities, my work through community organizing and nonprofit has been in practice and not simply theory. We have worked to build bridges between Oak Park and communities like Austin and Maywood. 

I have actively helped to foster and maintain relationships with organizations like Best of Proviso Township and the Austin Family and Community Center, raising thousands in monetary donations and supplies to proactively support the health and sustainability of community efforts. 

It is important to recognize that communities like Oak Park often benefit from the lack of investment in our neighboring communities. While Austin and Maywood are food deserts, Oak Park has an abundance of grocery stores offering fresh produce. 

The bridges that we build between communities cannot simply have one way lanes coming into the community of Oak Park. We must recognize the richness that exists in our neighboring communities and build bridges that offer two way lanes.

 Just as Oak Park benefits from communities like Austin and Maywood, other communities need to benefit from Oak Park.  We must enter village covenants to ensure communities interact collaboratively in improving the health of each town. Everything from expanding our farmers market and small business support to include neighboring communities, to review sustainability policies to ensure that Oak Park’s efforts have a positive and collaborative impact at an intergovernmental and intercommunity level.