Two Harvey Park District commissioners are suing others at the Park District for allegedly blocking them from executing their elected duties.
Waynemond Cotton and Lakeisha Brown-Oneal say Park District Executive Director Kisha McCaskill and Commissioners Aaron McCaskill, Amari McCaskill, Joyce Brown and Floyd Coleman should be held responsible for attempting to vacate Cotton’s seat and refusing to swear in Brown-Oneal after both were elected.
During a Cook County circuit court hearing on Wednesday, Judge Doretha Renee Jackson recused herself from the case, with a new judge to be assigned by next week, Jackson said.
According to the civil complaint by Cotton and Brown-Oneal, the Park District, through its attorneys the Del Galdo Law Group, sent a letter to Cotton on May 8 saying that his being indebted to the Park District led to his seat being vacated.
The letter, which was offered as part of the complaint, defended the decision with Illinois statute that deems a person ineligible of serving as park commissioner “if that person is in arrears in the payment of a tax or other indebtedness due to the park district.”
The complaint states that the letter “is not based on any truth, and legally without any merit whatsoever.”
“I have never owed, and I do not owe, any debt to the Harvey Park District,” Cotton said in an affidavit attached to the complaint.
Cotton was first elected to the Park District in April 2023 and Brown-Oneal was elected in April 2025. Both were elected to serve 4-year terms.
The complaint states that despite her seat being certified by the Cook County clerk’s office, park district Executive Director Kisha McCaskill has refused to swear-in Brown-Oneal as a commissioner.
McCaskill has also failed to notify Brown-Oneal of any board meetings or include her in communications regarding board or district business, according to the complaint. Brown-Oneal allegedly also made several requests to gain access to district facilities, offices, properties and records that have not been granted.
“Brown-Oneal was directly told by an employee of the Harvey Park District, admittedly acting under direction and directives of the executive director, Kisha McCaskill, that she was not allowed to visit or access the facilities and certain areas of the Harvey Park District, including any board documents or records,” the complaint states.
In a statement to the Daily Southtown sent via the Del Galdo Law Group, those representing the Harvey Park District said the lawsuit is “baseless” and that it seeks its immediate dismissal.
“Rather than repay the taxpayers the money that Waynemond Cotton owed Harvey Park District, he chose to abuse his authority as a commissioner and leave the taxpayers holding the bag,” the statement said, adding that Cotton was “repeatedly” made aware of the debt he owed but would not pay, leading to his removal from the board months later.
The Park District also said Cotton had failed to show up to board meetings to address the debt issue.
The statement acknowledged Brown-Oneal as a Park District commissioner but slammed her decision to enlist as a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
“Rather than be a fiduciary of the district she was elected to represent, she chose to join Mr. Cotton’s lawsuit and waste the taxpayers’ money by claiming she didn’t receive an ‘invitation’ to board meetings and wasn’t ‘notif[ied]’ of meetings,” the Park District said.
The Park District added that the district website states meeting dates, times and locations of meetings.
“It’s unclear why Commissioner Brown-Oneal insists on a personal invitation to a board meeting or is incapable of reading the Park District’s website or the publicly posted board meeting agendas,” the Park District’s statement said.
The Park District website does not list information for individual meetings in 2025 but states that “board meetings are the second Tuesday of every quarter at 6 p.m. in the Gloria Taylor Banquet Hall at 14821 South Broadway Ave. in Harvey.”
Through the lawsuit, Cotton is seeking the court’s declaration that Cotton is a duly elected commissioner whose term has not expired and that his removal from office was void and illegal.
Brown-Oneal seeks an injunction preventing the district “from all acts of commission or omission designed or concerted to not recognize” her as a Park District commissioner.
Both Cotton and Brown-Oneal also are asking that the Park District pay their court costs and attorneys fees.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
