W E D N E S D A Y
December 18, 2019 Vol. 39, No. 20 ONE DOLLAR @oakpark @wednesdayjournal
JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest
OPRF swimmers defeat LTHS Page 51
D97 votes to take TIF funds, sparking debate By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter
Michelle Gervais said that she canvassed door to door during past District 97 referendum campaigns and has never voted against a tax hike for the schools in her 17 years of living in south Oak Park. “I’ve never once complained about paying taxes,” she said during a Dec. 10 public hearing on the district’s 2019 tax levy. “But I really feel if you take the full levy amount here, you’ll cause some real resentment among voters and I think I’ll be a little resentful, too, and I’m one of your biggest fans.” Gervais was one of nearly a dozen Oak Park residents who urged board members not to take the full $5.3 million in revenue the school district stands to gain with the expiration of the Madison Street and Downtown TIF districts — a move she and others argued would only exacerbate the chronic problem of everincreasing property taxes in the village. Elected officials, however, argue that this is the only opportunity to capture that revenue and further stabilize the school district’s financial future. Moments after the public comment, the board See D97 LEVY on page 14
ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer
STORYTELLER: Nathan Linsk, co-founder of the Oak Park Area Lesbian and Gay Association, visits the Oak Park River Forest Museum’s exhibit marking the 30th anniversary of the organization.
OPALGA+’s BIG GAY DECADES
Oak Park River Forest Museum honors organization in exhibit By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter
To look at Oak Park’s history of inclusion of people of all sexual orientations is really to look at the history of the Oak Park Area Lesbian and Gay Association + (OPALGA+).
Without OPALGA+ championing such causes as inclusion, education and, of course, broadened civil rights legislation, Oak Park may never have become the welcoming village it’s viewed as today. “If you’re going to live in a diverse community, you have to accept differences and that’s what the gay movement was all about,” said Bob Trezevant, one of OPALGA+ founding members. “We’re different. That’s all. We do not deserve to be discriminated against because of that difference.”
The 30-year-old organization and its contributions is currently being honored at the Oak Park River Forest Museum, 129 Lake St. The exhibit, titled “Proud Oak Parkers: OPALGA+ at 30,” chronicles OPALGA+ from its inception in 1989 to the present. “It’s a classic Oak Park story of a relatively small organization that has had a very big impact on policy in the village,” said Trezevant. “And it’s significant that a See OPALGA on page 12
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