Five residents will be seeking the position of Oak Park village clerk in the April 4 election.
James Robinson-Parran, 37, is a professional musician with a master’s of arts in music from Concordia University. He is also a District 97 graduate and an alum of Oak Park and River Forest High School.
Victoria “Vicki” Scaman, 46, is a grant coordinator through the Illinois Department of Human Services at Oak Park Township, and is the chair of the village’s liquor control review board.
Elia Gallegos, 40, is a nine-year resident of Oak Park and currently works as a grants coordinator at Oak Park Village Hall, and is working toward her bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Mas Takiguchi, an attorney, is the current chair of the village’s fire and police commission. Takiguchi has served on the liquor control review board and the Oak Park Housing Authority.
Lori Malinski, 56, is the director of development at Oak-Leyden Developmental Services. Malinski studied English, media and photography at Northeastern Illinois University, fine art photography at Ray Vogue College of Design and at Wright College’s Continuing Education Program.
Q: Why are you choosing to run for village clerk?
Robinson-Parran: Of all the aspects of village clerk, I believe access to accurate government information and its dissemination is the most important job. Without accurate information, people make decisions in a vacuum; they fall prey to rumors, and suspicions, and invariably progress suffers. I believe that the village board needs to hear from concerned citizens, and residents need to hear from the village board and, most importantly, those lines of communication should have clarity and intent.
Scaman: I want to be able to serve community members and the village board full-time in accessing information to make informed choices that are best for our community. I value the role of the village clerk as that elected full-time staff whose priority is to serve residents and the village board. The village clerk protects the interests of residents in maintaining open government as the keeper of records and provides customer service and outreach to the community as full-time staff. I want to use my skills as the candidate who has walked individuals, business owners, and organizations through a bureaucratic process to improve customer service and access to information.
Gallegos: I am running for village clerk because I have a passion for helping people to build a stronger community. I am well-versed in policies and federal regulations, which positions me well to hit the ground running in the office of village clerk. My focus as an employee at village hall is administering federally funded housing programs for low-to-moderate income households and affordable housing.
Takiguchi: To make a difference in the quality of life of citizens, businesses and voters in the village of Oak Park. I have participated in the community as an officer of boards and commissions, as a committee chair and as simply a member of the group. From that experience, I have found that certain individuals, at times, can make small changes that result in large impacts on the quality of life. The village clerk is such a position, and that is one reason I am a candidate.
Malinski: Most of my career has been with nonprofit organizations, which I consider a form of public service, much the same as an elected office such as village clerk. I’m passionate about Oak Park, and feel the clerk’s role is an extension of the work I’ve done in the past.
Q: What would you specifically bring to the village and the clerk position?
Robinson-Parran: Firstly, I’d like to bring openness. I’d like to help the average citizen demystify how to do business in Oak Park.Whether that’s opening an actual business, or finding out how to contest parking tickets, I’d like residents to feel that nothing’s too difficult to get through at village hall, with some guidance from the clerk. Secondly, I’d like people to feel that they’re in a community.With our many citizen commissions and opportunities for those who want to add their expertise to our communal growth, I want people to know that the clerk is a resource for anyone to make Oak Park a better place to live.
Scaman: I would bring efficiency, service and understanding of our community needs and priorities to processes at village hall. My experience of leading a not-for-profit organization in Oak Park for 13 years has provided me a [great] understanding of the services and resources our community has to offer. I am currently working with every governmental body in Oak Park and River Forest through the grant process I am facilitating at Oak Park Township, funded by the Illinois Department of Human Services. I have the skills, knowledge and relationships to efficiently and thoughtfully serve in the office of village clerk.
Gallegos: I look forward to bringing professionalism and exceptional customer service delivery by listening and working with residents and organizations to identify ways to gather community input to develop more relevant and meaningful feedback. My employment background encompasses following and implementing policies and regulatory requirements. I will continue to comply with state law and village code.
Takiguchi: Experience and working knowledge from more than 35 years of volunteerism, work with local, state and federal government agencies, participation in Oak Park committees and commissions, elections of District 97, OPRF High School and village board candidates. I would bring the ability to address the evolving challenges confronting the office of village clerk. I will bring the energy, the experience and the insight of the last 35 years to improve the services delivered and to improve the quality of life.
Malinski: My experience of over 30 years in the nonprofit sector, helping to raise millions for large and small organizations. This experience spans across many aspects and skills that can be transferred to the role, including fundraising/networking, event management, being part of an upper management team, board governance and running board meetings, budgeting, strategic planning and volunteer recruitment.
Q: How do you plan to assist residents and village board members?
Robinson-Parran: I would disseminate information by working with the communications director to increase how we’re getting our information out to interested parties through established social media, look for new way to connect with people in the community that is meaningful to them (newsletters, texts, etc.), find new ways to encourage people to utilize processes that are already established, continue to be in compliance with state laws such as the Open Meetings Act to ensure that we in the government are being as transparent and accessible as possible and guiding residents towards helpful and meaningful information in a timely fashion.
Scaman: I want to make village hall a place where community members can get answers to their questions. I want to assist with linking services across government, not-for-profit organizations, and additional resource agencies in our community. I want to assist elected board members in evaluating programs and processes to better serve our community and keep our expenses down. I want to use my relationships within various sectors of our community to recruit more diversity to our village commissions and volunteer boards to ensure everyone has a voice in maintaining the values of Oak Park.
Gallegos: I will strive for greater public accessibility to board and commission meetings on social media as well as the village website on current and past agendas. It is vital for residents to have access to information as a method to express concerns on local matters. I also believe an open door policy is key to building meaningful connections. As the liaison for the community, I am committed and prepared to collaborate with trustees, the mayor, the village manager, village staff and the community to build relationships and establish trust.
Takiguchi: I will bring a sense of community to village hall by installing a strong work ethic and sense of duty and purpose in the operation and conduct of village clerk personnel. The purpose is to do so using all of the resources available to me for the benefit of the community. I will seek at every moment to establish a productive and strong collaborative working relationship with the village manager, department heads, and each and every employee with whom I come in contact.
Malinski: I look at this role as an opportunity to bring the government to the people and the people to the government.The clerk has the chance to be out in the community to be the eyes and ears to be able to convey issues and concerns to staff and village board members.
Q: Any immediate or long-term goals, if elected?
Robinson-Parran: I plan to acclimate to the position quickly, so I can get a sense of where any issues lie.After an adjustment period, I will work with my staff to come up with solutions to any issues and implement them. There are some records that are in microfilm, and I’d like to preserve them in a more stable form, as a long-term project, and an intermediate goal is to get more people involved in our government through targeted mail drops with various issues.
Scaman: I would immediately work with the village staff to improve customer service for residents and businesses, improve methods of communication, use the relationships I have in various networks to recruit more diversity to commissions and empower shared leadership so that commissions are valued the way they were intended.
Gallegos: If elected, I will work with residents, businesses, community organizations, the village manager, the mayor, trustees and staff to build relationships and trust to promote a positive community. I will strive to encourage greater and diverse participation in the boards and commissions and focus on service delivery to encourage voter registration and participation throughout the community.
Takiguchi: Immediate goals are to have an in-depth discussion with the assistant village clerk regarding the good and not-so-good circumstances of the current operation. I would also consult [current Village Clerk] Theresa Powell about her thoughts upon the eight years of her tenure. Long-term goals are to implement contact with District 97 and OPRF District 200 regarding the right to vote and its importance, increase voter registration by 10 percent and improve voter awareness and ultimately turnout by 10 percent.
Malinski: I want take the mystery out of what goes on at 123 Madison.One of the things I’ve learned since I decided to run is that people do not really know how our government works. We have a great website but people don’t readily get the information they need, so I’d like to work with [communications director] David Powers and his team on how we can best get this information to our citizens. I’d also like to provide tours for school groups [and other interested constituents] at Village Hall.I’d get the kids engaged at an early age, encourage voter registration and participation in the 18-25-year-old range, and pursue their interest in volunteering for our advisory boards and commissions.
Q: What else would you like voters to know about you?
Robinson-Parran: I’m running because I believe in the community.I believe that without engaged residents, there isn’t a community.There’s no Oak Park without Oak Parkers.We aren’t an arbitrary grouping of people living in the boundaries of Roosevelt and North; Harlem and Austin — we’re friends and neighbors working to make the community a better place.I’ve been incentivized by the process, but I’m engaged because I’m a resident too.If you vote for me, you’ll have an ear in the room and a voice in the system.I believe in you, Oak Park, and I hope you’ll believe in me too.
Scaman: My life has been about community service. I value people and shared leadership. I have a long history of volunteering on committees and working with community-based organizations with a focus of improving access to services for all residents on a range of topics from mental health resources to supporting the arts and education, including on the west side of Chicago. I served as the co-chair of the Education Committee for the West Garfield Park Community Stakeholders to reduce underage drinking and drug use. I am currently the co-chair of the Addiction Recovery Team supported by the Oak Park Community Mental Health Board.
Gallegos: I am energetic, hard working, ambitious, optimistic and I can adapt to change … I am single mother of two wonderful daughters; one of whom recently graduated from Loyola University in Chicago, and the other a junior at OPRF High School. I am multi-cultured and fluent in Spanish and English. I grew up in the southwest side of Chicago and personally experienced economic diversity and culture diversity. As a result, it is a privilege and honor to live in one of the most (if not, the most) diverse communities in the nation. I am committed to continue to foster diversity in this welcoming environment for today’s and future generations to come.
Takiguchi: That I will always be available, accessible, and responsive. That I will use all of my experience for the improvement of the delivery of services. I will devote myself to establishing collaborative working relationships within village hall and throughout the community.
Malinski: I have established relationships with many village staff and elected officials, and I know my way around village hall. I also know the concerns of the vast array of constituents that make up Oak Park, and feel I’m the best choice to carry those concerns to village hall.
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