About this column:
Keep it here for news related to the April 5 municipal elections in Oak Park and River Forest.
You just can't thank the League of Women Voters enough. They're a passionate group of civic-minded volunteers, and they aim their keen eyes on the local issues affecting residents. They explain topics and weigh in where appropriate. At occasional breakfast sessions, they hash out the local impact of national politics. And recently, they sponsored the Candidates Fair at Oak Park-River Forest High School, a forum where residents were invited to meet and greet those seeking election for public office. Luckily, they had the foresight to tape the candidates' pitches and upload them to their …
Editor's note: The following letter was sent to us Friday by Lisa Lowry and Kelly O'Connor. The upcoming April 5th elections will determine numerous issues of importance to our village.There are referendums and candidates who represent various priorities for our youth in this community. For a moment we ask you to consider this question. What kind of environment do we want our high school to be? What kind of educational environment do we want our kids to be in 40 hours a week? Currently we have a teen drug/alcohol use rate that nearly doubles the national average. This is alarming, but not …
Robert Tucker, 44, is vying to win his first seat on the Oak Park Board of Trustees, six trustees and the village president responsible for shaping the village’s public and fiscal policies. This is his first run for public office. Members of the board of trustees serve four-year terms. This year, three seats are up for election. Tucker is running with Ray Johnson and Adam Salzman as part of the slate of the Citizens for Accountable Leadership Party, a group backed by the Village Manager Association, Oak Park’s principal candidate slating organization. Lynn Kessen and Lewis Carmichael are …
Adam Salzman, 32, is vying to win his first seat on the Oak Park Board of Trustees, six trustees and the village president responsible for shaping the village’s public and fiscal policies. This is his first run for political office. Members of the board of trustees serve four-year terms. This year, three seats are up for election. Salzman is running with Ray Johnson and Robert Tucker as part of the slate of the Citizens for Accountable Leadership Party, a group backed by the Village Manager Association, Oak Park’s principal candidate slating organization. Lynn Kessen and Lewis Carmichael are …
Lynn Kessen, 46, is vying for a seat on the Oak Park Board of Trustees, six trustees and the village president responsible for shaping the village’s public and fiscal policies. This is her first run for public office. Members of the board of trustees serve four-year terms. This year, three seats are up for election. Three candidates — Ray Johnson, Robert Tucker and Adam Salzman – have formed the Citizens for Accountable Leadership Party, a group backed by the Village Manager Association, Oak Park’s principal candidate slating organization. Kessen and Lewis Carmichael are running as …
Ray Johnson, 47, is running for his third term on the Oak Park Board of Trustees, six trustees and the village president responsible for shaping the village’s public and fiscal policies. Members of the board of trustees serve four-year terms. This year, three seats are up for election. Three candidates — Johnson, Robert Tucker and Adam Salzman – have formed the Citizens for Accountable Leadership Party, a group backed by the Village Manager Association, Oak Park’s principal candidate slating organization. Lynn Kessen and Lewis Carmichael are running as independents. Johnson, the program …
Editor's note: OPRF Patch hasn't heard back from candidates Diane Dunn and Julie Grossman MacCarthy. We'll post their completed questionnaires if and when they return them. Victor Guarino, 45, is aiming for a spot on the Park District of Oak Park Board of Commissioners, a five-member group which establishes policies for the entire district. For much more on the role of the Park District commissioner, please see the PDF attachments accompanying this story. Commissioners serve four-year terms. This year, three seats are up for election and six candidates — Guarino, Paul Aeschleman, Jessica …
Voters in Oak Park will get the chance on April 5 to support or shoot down a new program that offers the promise of savings on electricity bills. The plan is known as Community Choice Aggregation, or CCA. The programs allow a municipality to bundle power accounts from households and commercial customers, then, with the help of a third-party consultant, seek bids from energy companies. The idea is for Oak Park to select an energy provider that can offer the cheapest rates, the cleanest forms of energy, or a mix of both. Right now, ComEd customers receive power from Exelon at prices set each…
Editor's note: Oak Park Elementary School District 97 spokesman Chris Jasculca issued this statement, co-authored by Oak Park Township Assessor Ali ElSaffar and District 97 board president Peter Traczyk, to Oak Park-River Forest Patch on Sunday. A calculation on District 97's referendum ballot question regarding the cost of the referendum for homeowners has sparked debate among tax experts. According to bond counsel for District 97, the calculation appearing on the ballot complies with state law. The ballot calculation is being questioned by Oak Park Township Assessor Ali ElSaffar. ElSaffar …
A slate of candidates vying for spots on the Oak Park park board, including a woman who tried unsuccessfully to withdraw her candidacy, has emerged after relative obscurity. The Alive! Our Parks! party recently distributed a press release announcing the candidacy of Diane Dunn, Thomas Finch and Julie Grossman MacCarthy. The slate is squaring off against incumbent Jessica Bullock, Vic Guarino and Paul Aeschleman for spots on the Park District of Oak Park Board of Commissioners. Finch has responded to a Patch candidate questionnaire. Dunn and MacCarthy did not return multiple attempts to reach…
With the April 5 election just weeks away, support and opposition camps are lining up and taking sides in District 97's multi-million dollar referendum question that would raise property taxes but save dozens of teacher jobs and school programs. But a technical snafu with the ballot question's wording — one that a top tax official says dramatically underestimates the impact on taxpayer wallets — is raising new concerns about the referendum's validity. Ali ElSaffar, Oak Park's Township assessor, said language in the ballot question does not factor in the state's equalizer, a number the …
Editor's note: OPRF Patch hasn't heard back from candidates Diane Dunn and Julie Grossman MacCarthy. We'll post their completed questionnaires if and when they return them. Thomas Finch is aiming for a spot on the Park District of Oak Park Board of Commissioners, a five-member group which establishes policies for the entire district. For much more on the role of the Park District commissioner, please see the PDF attachments accompanying this story. Commissioners serve four-year terms. This year, three seats are up for election and six candidates — Finch, Victor Guarino, Paul Aeschleman, …
Editor's note: OPRF Patch hasn't heard back from candidates Diane Dunn and Julie Grossman MacCarthy. We'll post their completed questionnaires if and when they return them. Paul Aeschleman, 47, is aiming for a spot on the Park District of Oak Park Board of Commissioners, a five-member group which establishes policies for the entire district. For much more on the role of the Park District commissioner, please see the PDF attachments accompanying this story. Commissioners serve four-year terms. This year, three seats are up for election and six candidates — Aeschleman, Victor Guarino, …
Editor's note: OPRF Patch hasn't heard back from candidates Diane Dunn and Julie Grossman MacCarthy. We'll post their completed questionnaires if and when they return them. Jessica Bullock, 37, is aiming to retain her spot on the Park District of Oak Park Board of Commissioners, a five-member group which establishes policies for the entire district. For much more on the role of the Park District commissioner, please see the PDF attachments accompanying this story. Commissioners serve four-year terms. This year, three seats are up for election and six candidates — Bullock, Thomas Finch, …
Early voting in the April 5 consolidation elections begins today and ends March 31. "Local officials affect lives a great deal, so voter participation is crucial," Cook County Clerk David Orr said in a statement. "Government functions better when more people are heard." Here's what you'll needVoters are required to present election officials with "valid identification" before receiving a ballot. According to the clerk's office, valid forms of ID include a current driver's license, state-issued ID card or another government-issued ID with a photograph. Here's where Oak Park and River Forest …
Mary Therese Small, 78, is aiming for a spot on the River Forest Public Library Board of Trustees, the seven-member group responsible for shaping the library's fiscal and operating policies. Members of the library board serve six-year terms. This year, three seats are up for election. Four candidates — Small, Thomas Smedinghoff, Jennifer Rice Epstein and Claudette Zobel — are vying for spots on the board. Small is retired from her work in marketing research for a major food company. Her day job now, she said, is "having fun." From 2008 to 2010, she served on the Board of Trustees at St. …
Thomas Smedinghoff, 59, is aiming for a spot on the River Forest Public Library Board of Trustees, the seven-member group responsible for shaping the library's fiscal and operating policies. Members of the library board serve six-year terms. This year, three seats are up for election and four candidates — Smedinghoff, Jennifer Rice Epstein, Claudette Zobel and Mary Therese Small — are vying for spots on the board. According to the biography posted at the website of Wildman Harrold, the Chicago-based law firm where he's a partner, Smedinghoff chaired from 1996 to 1998 the Illinois Attorney …
Jennifer Rice Epstein, 33, is aiming for a spot on the River Forest Public Library Board of Trustees, the seven-member group responsible for shaping the library's fiscal and operating policies. Members of the library board serve six-year terms. This year, three seats are up for election. Four candidates — Epstein, Thomas Smedinghoff, Claudette Zobel and Mary Therese Small — are vying for spots on the board. On her Twitter page, Rice Epstein calls herself a "full-time baby-raiser and part-time writer of fiction." This is her first candidacy for public office. Patch: How would you assess the …
Claudette Zobel, 76, is aiming for a spot on the River Forest Public Library Board of Trustees, the seven-member group responsible for shaping the library's fiscal and operating policies. Members of the library board serve six-year terms. This year, three seats are up for election and four candidates — Zobel, Thomas Smedinghoff, Jennifer Rice Epstein and Mary Therese Small — are vying for spots on the board. Before moving to River Forest about 15 years ago, Zobel served on Oak Park's zoning board of appeals and the village's plan commission in addition to was chairing what was then known as…
Lane Hart, 53, looks to retain seat on the seven-member Oak Park Public Library Board of Trustees, the group responsible for shaping the library's fiscal and operating policies. Members serve four-year terms. This year, three seats are up for election and only three candidates — incumbents Hart and Janet Kelenson and write-in candidate David Sokol — are running, making the election uncontested. Hart, who works in technology for J.P. Morgan Chase, is completing his first term on the library board, where he served as both vice president and board president. Patch: How would you assess the …
