Activist Toolkit

1. What motivates you to seek this office?

I have lived in River Forest for approximately 9 years and believe we have a thriving, tight-knit community. Besides schools, people move to River Forest for the beautiful parks and public facilities. I want to do my part to make River Forest an even better place to live.

What skills, experiences, and perspectives would you bring to the Park District Board, and why would those contributions be valuable to the Park District?

I have two children (7 and 10 years old) that enjoy many offerings provided by the Park District and affiliate programs. Both my wife and I spend lots of time in our parks and know how other families use the parks and Park District facilities. With two years of experience in office, I feel I have a lot more to give and can be even more effective as a leader of our community.

2. What steps will you take to improve and expand community engagement with the Park District and the Board? 

In my first term, I advocated for more transparency into Park District matters. I pushed for broader access to meetings which included posting Board Meeting recordings on the Park District website. Since March 2020, we have been holding meetings in-person and on Zoom. Public participation in Board Meetings is far more abundant than when I took office 2 years ago. I think we should continue to find ways to communicate more effectively with the community.

What is your view on how local elected officials should communicate with and respond to constituents?

I believe the community should feel free to reach out to elected officials on their agency e-mail with questions, comments, concerns regarding the direction of the agency.  I have received numerous emails on my Park District email address and have responded to each and every one of them since taking office.   

3. Give an example of a time when you worked to understand a situation or view different from your own. What helped you to move through that process?

Shortly after being elected, a major decision was required on whether to install turf on the girls softball infield at Keystone Park. I listened carefully to pros and cons from the community, did my own research on the topic, went to see another field in the area to fully grasp what was being proposed. In the end, I believe I was fully informed before casting my vote.

What hindered you as you moved through the process?

Social media can make it difficult to separate fact from fiction.  Many people cast opinions based on what they read on social media which is sometimes used to spread misinformation.  I found that the public was largely misinformed about the scope of the turf project due to posts they read on social media.  The Park District website is a great resource for people who want to form opinions based on facts.  

4. Who or what is your role model for your approach to governing?

I’m not sure I can single out any one role model.  I have spent significant time over the last 2 years speaking with other elected officials in River Forest (Village President, Village Trustees, Park District Commissioners) to better understand their approach to governing and understand their vision for River Forest.  I feel the best approach is to find common ground on issues, build consensus and push for things that will most benefit the community.

5. What do you feel are the three biggest issues facing the Park District, and how do you intend to address them?

I feel the three biggest issues facing the Park District are addressing the need for indoor space, resurfacing the tennis courts/reconfiguring the area east of the Keystone Park softball field and improving the field conditions at Priory Park. It is likely that indoor space would have to go to a referendum as the Park District is not able to save enough money to accomplish this without increasing taxes. In that case, the voters would decide how to proceed. I have spoken to representatives from Park District affiliate programs to fully understand their needs at Keystone Park. I feel there is a path forward where no amenities are removed and the community as a whole can benefit. I think it is necessary to address any field conditions that are sub-par to surrounding Park District facilities.

How will you prioritize among competing priorities? 

 I believe projects should be prioritized based on a combination of need, the number of people who would benefit from the project and the cost per beneficiary.  I believe all three of these need to be evaluated to determine project priority.

6. What do you believe has been the most significant action taken by the Park District in recent years, and why?

I believe the installation of turf on the infield of the Keystone girls softball field was the most significant action taken by the current board.

Do you believe the Board acted appropriately?

I believe the board acted appropriately as the footprint left from the project was relatively minimal, the impact was significant and many people will benefit for years to come.  In addition to solving a drainage problem, we significantly reduced the amount of clay that goes into the sewer system.  Kids and adults alike can get significantly more use out of the field due to fewer rain-outs and longer seasonal use.     

7. How do you define racial equity?

I believe racial equity is the ability for people of all races and ethnicities to have an equal opportunity to thrive.

Have recent events and discussions in the larger community informed or changed your thinking?
Certainly.  I brought forward a proposal to work with the Park District of Maywood to create a reciprocal agreement for amenities that can be mutually beneficial to both communities.  For example, Maywood has a pool and River Forest has platform tennis courts.  I can envision an agreement where River Forest residents have limited access to the Maywood pool and Maywood residents have limited access to platform tennis courts.  This can be a win-win for both communities.  

8. How do you plan to solicit feedback from people who may be experiencing the community in a different way than you?

I have had numerous conversations with residents to hear their perspective on Park District related topics. Many of those conversations have changed the way I think and decisions I have made. I have had residents reach out to me with concerns and I have reached out to people who I have heard have concerns. We set up time to discuss their concerns and almost always we are able to find some common ground.

What barriers do you believe may exist in this process?

Naturally, I cannot have a conversation with everyone in the village, however, to hear what a broad mix of people are thinking in the community makes me better at bringing forward initiatives that can better our community.

9. How should the Park District balance the needs of all residents versus facilities and resource use by more organized groups such as sports leagues?

 I believe that taxpayer dollars should be used as sparingly as possible for things that only benefit a certain group of people.  In cases where organized groups have requests, I believe they should have some “skin in the game” such that taxpayers are not subsidizing projects that benefit only a small group.  That being said, there is an overall benefit to the community by having organized groups or leagues that have proper facilities.    

10. Park districts make use of many different sources of funding, including property tax revenues, fees, and grants. Do you feel the Park District maintains the right balance for financial sustainability and equity?

For the last several years (approximately 7-10 years), the Park District has been saving significant resources for the possible construction of an indoor facility. Despite best efforts, the rate of savings is not sufficient to fund a project of this magnitude without a referendum. I feel that given the recent revelation that a referendum would be required, we should free up those funds to refresh some other ageing assets (playgrounds, tennis court resurfacing, enhanced parkspaces, etc.)

What do you see as the tradeoffs?

The tradeoffs have been to stretch the useful life of current Park District assets, in some cases too far, in return for a project that may or may not come to fruition.  We are at the point where decisions have to be made about the feasibility of indoor space which would likely require a referendum to raise funds.   

11. The Park District has many part-time employees. How will you balance the need for fiscal stewardship with the responsibility to pay employees a living wage?

There is a core workload required to run the Park District with different seasonal spikes.  I believe the core workload should be able to be handled by salaried staff based at market wages. I believe seasonal spikes can be handled by a combination of overtime (not to exceed reasonable levels) and part-time employees.

12. Do you have any ideas or plans for collaboration with neighboring communities? If so, what are they? 

The Park District currently has reciprocal agreements with some neighboring communities (e.g. Oak Park). I believe there are opportunities to expand that to all of our neighboring communities to enhance the offerings available to both River Forest residents and neighboring residents.

13. What are your ideas for creating/preserving green or natural space in River Forest? 

Due to the land-locked nature of our community, it is very difficult to expand greenspace.  However, shortly after taking office, I proposed closing Keystone Avenue between Central Avenue and Lake Street.  This would join Keystone East and West and potentially create space for a dog-park as well as other scenic areas.  This would require significant resources to determine the feasibility of such a proposal and was therefore tabled until another time.  I believe we can take some steps to assess the feasibility without large expenditures to see if this could be a reality and if the community would support the idea.  In order to expand greenspace, the Park District Board will need to be creative.

14. What are the opportunities and limitations of the Park District coordinating with the River Forest Community Center?

The River Forest Community Center has indoor space that is highly coveted by the Park District.  Partnering with them might allow more Park District programming such as basketball and other indoor activities that require large spaces.  The limitations are that the Park District would likely have to give up something in return unless there was a way to merge the two entities.  This was attempted in the past without a deal being reached.

15. What values and priorities would you bring to the budgeting process?

I believe we need to replace some Park District assets that have exceeded their useful life (Keystone tennis courts, playgrounds, etc.) and enhance some of the greenspace (flower gardens, more plantings, etc.).

Do you favor any changes in the process by which the Park District conducts its budgeting and fiscal planning?

Currently, the Park District Board sets priorities without hearing from leaders from Park District and affiliate programs.  I believe each major Park District program and affiliate program should be heard as a course of regular business before budgets are finalized.  Also, I feel Board members should tour parks with maintenance staff to evaluate the conditions of assets before finalizing budgets.  

• • • • •

[The above answers were supplied on 2/19/21.]