Even the best plans can use a bit of refreshing every now and then.
For more than 70 years, through a series of election year public forums, Park Forest’s Non-Partisan Committee helped residents decide on who will manage the affairs of the community in election year public forums in which citizens can question all candidates running for local office.
The only stipulation was that all hopefuls for office could not team up with others and no local or national political parties were allowed.
Henry Dietch, the second village mayor (then called village president) summed up the feeling of its pioneer citizens when, in 1955, he said there was no Democratic or Republican way of picking up garbage or plowing snowy streets.
So it came to pass that public office seekers in the village could present their ideas to the voters in numerous election year candidate forums by pledging to run independent campaigns. For all we know, there might have been some secret handshakes through the decades, but the idea of citizens getting answers to their questions spoke to a true democratic ideal.
These free forums were held in a village facility, a hall or an even private home, with the number of meetings depending on the number of candidates running for mayor, village trustee and Library Board.
Then came the 2025 election in which Trustees Maya Hardy, Erin Slone and Theresa Settles were unchallenged winners. The Non-Partisan Committee ran only one forum as the public pulse beat was undetectable.
That potential lack of interest on the part of the voters may have been one big reason committee President Chip Young set the site for the annual meeting of the committee this past Saturday at the Park Forest Library.
He need not have worried. The small meeting room in the building was filled elbow to elbow with 17 people offering suggestions or volunteering to work on the Non-Partisan Committee.
It is a good start. With both a trustee and mayoral election in the offing for next year, the committee is girding itself for a hot and heavy election season in 2027.
Bridge work
The Thorn Creek Woods pedestrian bridge was once the gateway to nearly 3 miles of pathways through the 1,000-plus acres on Monee Road. But the years and the weather took their toll.
When wooden bridge beams began to rot, it forced the bridge to close, thus limiting what once was a 2 1/2-mile walking trail to less than 1 mile.
The preserve, jointly owned and managed by the Forest Preserve District of Will County and the villages of Park Forest and University Park, is looking for money to rebuild the bridge for at least one more decade of use and allow time for a more permanent solution.
That is why the Friends of Thorn Creek Woods is using its tax-exempt status to raise $20,000 with a raffle to help pay for the bridge design. You can get more information about ticket cost and prizes by visiting the nature center from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Friday at 247 Monee Road, calling 708-747-6320 or by emailing thorn_creek@att.net.
Penny ante
The recent move by Park Forest to increase its local sales tax by one penny on the dollar (raising the total sales tax from 9% to 10%) freed it to eliminate two fees it charged residents and businesses.
Soon to be gone will be the $30 it charged residents to register home alarm systems. Some 800 residents are affected by this annual fee. Those who disregard the initial fee or four overdue payments face a $1,012 fine.
The village also will do away with assessing a $30 fee for businesses with a “commercial driveway.”
In an agenda briefing to the board, it was noted that “the reduction in revenue can be absorbed because of the recent sales tax increase” which, it says, could be as much as $800,000 a year.
Jerry Shnay is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown.
