Short History of Oak Park

Oak Park village president David Pope is moving on two commission-chair appointments, of seven waiting to be made, village clerk Sandra Sokol told one of the commissions last night, 4/1. 

He’s very thorough about it, said Sokol, who noted that the issue, or at least commissions in general, had come up the night before in a candidate-forum debate.  Indeed, opposition candidates in the April 7 election have accused incumbents of downgrading the commission structure.  Commissions and boards are volunteer groupings of citizens whose job is largely to advise the village board.

Last night’s meeting was of the Community Involvement Commitee (CIC), which recruits and recommends members for the 25 other commissions and boards, including the Zoning Board of Appeals, which is more than advisory but has statutory authority.  Each commission has an appointed village board liaison.  Sokol, who is retiring as clerk after 16 years, is laison to the CIC. 

Four citizens came before the CIC last night as prospects for appointment to a commission:

* a historic-preservation professional, with a view to joining the village’s Historic Preservation Commission

* a lawyer willing to take on the time-consuming and sometimes-hot-seat zoning-board or Plan Commission duties

* a building-rehab contractor who has served on other commissions and for whom CIC members seemed to prefer the Community Design Commission

* a woman in her early 20s, raised in Oak Park (she named the junior high), who had got off class in her master’s program early so as to make the meeting.  She mentioned two commissions, Community Relations and Housing Programs Advisory.

The members, eager to find younger citizens willing to serve, were especially glad to see this woman.

All four, none older than in his or her 40s, were typical in my experience of watching CIC prospect sessions, being earnest, willing, and apparently quite competent.

Under every great candidate rests a great platform. In fact, under every bad candidate rests a great platform. For instance, Vision [visible? tunnel-? clear-sighted? "Vision" is NOT an adjective.] Community Action (Milstein Balanoff Schwab Abraham) favors:

Two pretty-good-news items this week in the papers:

1. Lake & Forest development is moving apace: architectural betterment of the corner has been declared the issue, neatly stated by the developer and the village manager, who happily is in the middle of this, acting as if he has authority to do so, which he does.  Now that’s framing the discussion nicely. 

What’s more, the developer says he wants no subsidy: How long since the village has heard that?  These people and the manager know how the climate has evolved in the last few years.  The discussion and the stops and starts seem to have mattered, if only as object lessons in what to avoid.  Learning is beautiful.

2. Marion mall re-streeting is also on track:  The board made a near-unanimous decision.  When’s the last time that happened?  At least on a major step dogged or at least annoyed or at least barked at by opponents.  That’s not the board that was elected last time around, as we know, thanks to resignations. 

Now Milstein stands or sits alone.  His group has decided they have their issue, another Whiteco, as it were.  No more Whiteco’s, M. has said.  No more de-malling now?  In my opinion, he and they have boarded the wrong horse this time.

3. A puzzler: Trustee Marsey objects to village as developer (good) but wants to make it even more a landlord than it already is, with his scheme to take over the YMCA for non-profit purposes to provide SRO lodging. The Y’s removal to Forest Park seemed win-win for them and the village: they get a bundle for their property, village acquires new taxable property.  So what’s up with the SRO social-services move? 

Will this help the financial health of the village, assuaging concerns that “financial pressures may threaten the things that make Oak Park a fine place to live” in absence of “solid management of government,” which the New Leadership folks mean to provide.

“It will be the best hundred dollars you ever spent,” said my friend, urging me to buy in on a fund-raising affair for then-Richie Daley some years back, before he became mayor, when he held county office.  I was a job-seeker, which was why I considered the $100.  At the event, in a Loop hotel, I ran into a lobbyist who used to come into the city room regularly, often to confer with Mike Royko.  “What are you doing here?” he asked me, the former religion editor, clearly wondering if I were entering a new arena.  “I’m here to support good government,” I told him, smiling.

Maybe I would get such an answer with such a smile from Rev. Horace ? Smith, M.D., John J. Gearen, Jr., Paul A. Mertz, and other Oak Parkers who gave to Mayor Richard M. Daley in the last eight years if I asked them why.  Maybe I would not.  In any case, they gave up to $5,000 each in that time, according to public records posted by Crain’s Chicago Business.

Smith is a man of many parts. He’s a fully accredited, much experienced pediatrician with a specialty in oncology (cancer treatment) and pastor since 1980 of Apostolic Faith Church, at 38th and Indiana in the city.  Gearen is a partner at the law firm Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw.  Mertz is chief operating officer of the John Buck Company, developers. The long arm of the mayor thus reaches into our midst, tapping the generosity and civic awareness of people who do business in the city.

Pay attention to this: Two of the OP village board members who voted to purchase the Colt building are gone from the board.

Another: OP’s Historic preservation commission is to be renamed the Neighborhood Embalming Commission? With ipso facto, ex officio membership granted to, indeed required of, Drechsler, Brown, Williams, Kampp, Postelwait, and Smith? Worth looking into.

Yet another: Letter writer and building owner Anthony Shaker has been likened to Ayn Rand. F.A. Hayek would be better, and I think more complimentary.

Tags: Colt+Building, historic+preservation