Oak Park Township Slate Announces Intent to Run

A slate of five incumbents and two newcomers has announced their intention to run for seven Oak Park Township positions on the ballot this spring.

The candidates are running under the banner of the Township Services Party. The position of supervisor, four trustees, the assessor and clerk will be open on the April 9 ballot.

The township collector position was eliminated statewide as a township position by the Illinois General Assembly this past spring.

Seeking a third full term as supervisor is David Boulanger. Elected as a trustee in 1997, Boulanger was the liaison to the township’s Senior Services and Youth Services committees. He was appointed township supervisor in 2002. His  service to the community includes board positions with the Oak Park Regional Housing Center and the United Way of Oak Park and River Forest. Boulanger has also been on two village commissions and councils at the Oak Park and River Forest High School.

Others Running with the Township Services Party include:

• Clarmarie Keenan, who is seeking her fourth term as township trustee.  Keenan has served on the Township Senior Services and Youth Services Committee. She has been on the board of the Oak Park and River Forest Chamber of Commerce, where she served two years as president and the Village of Oak Park Citizens’ Police Oversight Committee for six years. A member of the Rotary Club of Oak Park-River Forest since 1999, Keenan has served as club president. She co-chairs the Annual Fund Committee of Rotary District 6450’s Foundation Committee.
• Jim Taglia was township collector and was appointed to a trustee position in 2011. Taglia has served on the township's Senior Services Committee and as the appointed member to the township’s Community Mental Health Board. He serves on the board of the Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest and has been its treasurer for the past nine years.
•  Mary Cozzens was elected to the township board in 2005, left after one term and is now seeking a second term. She was a member and chair of the Township Senior Services Committee.
• No stranger to Oak Park politics, Ade Onayemi served on the District 97 elementary board from 1997 to 2005 and was vice president during the construction of the two new middle schools. He also was on the Community Design Commission and Oak Park Education Foundation. Most recently he ran an unsuccessful campaign for a seat on the Cook County board.

Gregory White is completing his fourth term as township clerk and has served as deputy clerk.

Ali ElSaffar is seeking his fourth term as township assessor. Active in the community, ElSaffar has served on a number of local committees and currently serves as the president of the Cook County Township Assessors’ Association.

One sitting trustee, Dorothy M. Reid, has not yet announced whether she will run for another term. The other, .