W E D N E S D A Y
February 6, 2019 Vol. 39, No. 26 ONE DOLLAR @oakpark @wednesdayjournal
JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest
SAY Connects: OPRF students empower all Special pullout section
Racial equity back on Oak Park trustees’ radar Village board considering other options in adopting racial equity training By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter
Oak Park ice palace
“I think there’s some places where it’s going to be really worthwhile and some places where it’s overkill,” trustee Susan Conti said at the meeting, later voting against the proposal. All other trustees voted in favor of implementing the recommended traf-
It’s been just over a year since the Oak Park Board of Trustees was presented with a recommendation by the Community Relations Commission (CRC) to adopt a new model for looking at all decisions by village government through the lens of racial equity. With an election looming and with equity becoming a pervasive topic in not only local school districts but throughout the village, Oak Park trustees are planning to revisit the issue in the coming weeks. The model presented by Terry Keleher and members of the CRC in January 2018 is more than what one might expect – the sessions and toolkits and various forums provided by the Government Alliance on Race & Equity (GARE) represent a philosophical shift in how the village approaches decision making. Adopting the model could cost as little as $5,000 to train a handful of employees to implement the model, or it could run more than six figures. It all depends on how far the village aims to take it and how much effort it’s willing to commit. GARE’s annual dues for a village the size of Oak Park, which has about 370 employees, would run $1,000.
See SAFETY on page 13
See EQUITY on page 15
ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
Joshua Wood, of Oak Park, sweeps up the last bits of ice leftover inside of the igloo on Friday, Feb. 1, in the backyard of his home on Superior Street in Oak Park. For story and photos, page 14.
River Forest zeroes in on traffic safety Officials plan to add about 70 stop signs, 162 crosswalks to the village By NONA TEPPER Staff Reporter
A majority of River Forest trustees approved a plan to add nearly 70 stop signs and more to village streets at their board meeting on Jan. 28, although officials plan to wait until they hear back about a state grant before implementing the changes.
The engineering firm KLOA spent nearly a year researching and writing the Safe Routes to Schools traffic plan for River Forest, which recommended a variety of new traffic control measures. Officials were compelled to create the survey after a third-grader was struck by a car on his way to Lincoln Elementary School in December 2017.