Oak Parkers already made history when they elected Joanne Trapani as president of the Village Board, after she served on the board itself. When she took over as 'mayor' of Oak Park, she became the first openly GLBT person to head a major town in Illinois. Now, Oak Park activist Ray Johnson hopes to join her on the board as a village trustee.
Johnson is one of three unanimously endorsed candidates by the highly regarded Village Manager Association (VMA), which brings a lot of electoral clout to the April 1 elections in the near-west suburb of Chicago.
Johnson, a longtime member of the Oak Park Area Lesbian and Gay Association (OPALGA), has worked for Household International for 20 years; currently he is a marketing manager. He sat down with Windy City Times to discuss his goals for the part-time post in this highly progressive town.
Tracy Baim: Can you introduce our readers to your background?
Ray Johnson: I moved here from Michigan in 1989—I was transferred by Household International from Detroit to my first location here, Elmhurst.
TB: The city of Detroit?
RJ: Dearborn Heights, which is on the border of Detroit. Similar to now, where I live on Austin, which is the dividing line with the city's West Side and Oak Park. I grew up in Richmond, Mich., a rural community of about 1,500 folks. My first employment was on a pig farm. My parents had a strong work ethic. I put myself through community college, where I got a business degree. I started with Household in 1983, this will be my 20th year. I moved in 1989 to Elmhurst, from a sales position to an underwriting position. I stayed in Elmhurst until 1995, working in several areas, customer service being my favorite. I managed a bilingual branch office at Lawrence and Western for three years. Then I went to the [national] marketing department in Prospect Heights in 1997, and have been there since. We are a financial services company. We provide credit cards, consumer loans and mortgages to middle Americans who have a little bit below grade credit.
TB: How long have you been out at work?
RJ: I wasn't out in 1983—I probably came out when I moved to Detroit. My colleagues couldn't be more supportive. They respect and appreciate the fact that I am out, and support it. They are very supportive of this campaign. I couldn't ask for a more supportive company. They have given a lot of money to organizations I have been involved in. From Unit 371, the former AIDS Ward at Illinois Masonic Hospital, to OPALGA, GLSEN, and the Community Chest of Oak Park-River Forest. That is our United Way organization—the umbrella for United Way in the suburbs. I joined their board because of the Boy Scout issue. I was deeply offended they were funding Scouts with funds collected from Oak Park-River Forest. I wanted to try to have an impact and change the policy. Which they did two years ago. They voted to suspend the Boy Scouts until they change their discriminatory policy. That's still in place. I stepped down to be appointed to the Village of Oak Park Planning Commission.
TB: What was your original activism?
RJ: I didn't do a lot with my time in Detroit. When I moved here, one of my good friends from Port Huron, Mich., was the social work manager for Unit 371 at Illinois Masonic, and I was the Sunday afternoon volunteer, from 1989-1995 or so. It was a very intense ward for people with AIDS. They had a very good training program, you had a lot of support from the staff. Especially the nurses, but the doctors as well. We had an incredible volunteer coordinator. It was a family—you never felt you were intruding. It taught me to have a good deal of patience, and to withdraw a bit. I can be a bit outgoing, but it was a nice way to find a balance of support, to not intrude on their private space. That was when I started getting involved, and found out about Oak Park and its activism. OPALGA started in 1989, and it took awhile to get the word out, especially for a newcomer like me.
I got more involved in politics when OPALGA took the step to amend the Human Rights Ordinance. I went to the Village Board hearings, and listened, and did not speak. But I thought these people were incredible, and I wanted to get involved. During the domestic-partnership registry referendum and ordinance was when I really devoted a great deal of time, and got more involved. When our opponents collected enough signatures to get the anti-gay referendum on the ballot, that's when I really got involved to fight that. We of course won. It was an amazing victory. We only won by about 200 or so votes [4,783 Yes—in support of the registry, and 4,520 against]. The OPALGA board then came to me and asked me to join, and I became treasurer. Then I became co-chair, with Helen Bishop and then Julie Kreiner. I served for about three years.
TB: When you were co-chair, what were some of the big issues for OPALGA?
RJ: First and foremost, and something I am still committed to, were the youth programs. We realized that there was a great need in the community for a more focused approach to the services we were providing. We had a great team of volunteers, but there was a need for greater training and skillsets, so we needed to beef up the oversight of that. We suspended the program for six-nine months, while we worked as a team to build it. We hired a professional, Susan Abbott, who is still there today, doing an incredible job.
It was very controversial, and took board leadership. These people built the program, and it was painful for us to suspend it. But we really had no choice. Then we regrouped, built an oversight committee, and youth steering committee. We also now have a part-time youth director. Susan and her team of volunteers, which number about 25 now, had increased the number of meetings weekly and the number of youth who we serve. We are tracking well over 1,500 youth served this year. It has expanded to include Pink Ladies, the program for young women. We have a program for Latino men. We have PRISM (14-18 year olds) and Spectrum (for those 18 and over). It is really a broad outreach.
TB: The high school issues were also at a peak?
RJ: There were the death threats coming from a student at the high school, to OPALGA and the Metropolitan Community Church, when I was co-chair. We had to meet with the police chief, the village president, and the school superintendent, and others, to see what was causing it. From that came an in-service for faculty and staff at Oak Park-River Forest High School, to discuss diversity issues, GLBT, disabilities, harassment, bullying ... the school allowed us to design the forum. From pain comes gain. That was a rewarding experience. The other challenge we came a long way on was our finances. The OPALGA Gala is a big fundraiser for us—it allows us to do everything else, especially for the youth. Each year the net income goes up.
TB: You stepped down as co-chair when?
RJ: My term was up in November of 2001. Then I was ex-oficio for a year. I helped with the 5th OPALGA Gala.
TB: What would make someone run for office, even in Oak Park? Joanne Trapani has paved the way, but there is certainly not 100 percent support for GLBTs in Oak Park. This is a part-time position, so you are keeping your full-time job?
RJ: We get paid a stipend. Several hundred dollars per meeting.
TB: So this is different than the $100,000 annually for Chicago alderman. It is a four-year term?
RJ: Yes, four years. When I thought about taking this step, it goes back to my roots. My mother was [a Michigan] Township Clerk for six years. You can have such great impact from that position. I watched her save wetlands and stop landfills. Report corruption to the state, and receive threats. When you grow up with that, it gives you a commitment to do the right thing and to serve. Oak Park is very unique. It is a diverse community, that values, respects, works for and spends a great deal of money and time on integration and diversity, which go hand in hand in how we value and respect each other even through all of our differences. I like to say I am a better person for living here.
I look at my opportunity to run as a natural outgrowth of the skills and experience I have had both in caring for people, from customer services, to managing budgets, to working for non-profits, all of these things come together at this point in my life. I was asked to put my name forward, by a number of community members, VMA and non-VMA. The VMA selection process is made up of members and non-members who are committed. There were about 40 people who met nearly every week for several months to recommend for slating for the three open seats in this election (of seven total board seats).
TB: Are there three stepping down?
RJ: One of the people, William J.J. Turner, said he was not running. One incumbent did put her name forward as an incumbent, but she was not slated. A third incumbent also put her name forward and was not selected.
TB: So there is really only one open seat. But it is not elected by districts, it is village-wide?
RJ: Yes. But one of the women is not running, the other woman created a new slate of three. There is also another team of three that formed on their own. And there is also one independent.
TB: When Joanne was running, VMA supported her?
RJ: Yes, I was part of the selection committee two years ago when she was endorsed.
TB: What is the clout VMA has?
RJ: Since 1952, they have a strong record. They're committed to good government. They really believe in trying to find the most qualified candidates as a slate. They don't look at individuals only, but how do they complement the other two folks. You can see our bios, we are three very different people.
TB: So their clout is as a group that is seen as putting together a good slate?
RJ: Yes. This year, it was clear VMA was saying they wanted responsible change—they made that clear by not endorsing two incumbents. We are trying to say we hear you, there are issues around development, parking and traffic.
TB: Talk about those specific issues, both gay and non-gay, facing you.
RJ: As I have been out in the community, people are saying they don't feel they are being heard. It's more top-down rather than relational. They don't feel part of process, whether they agree to disagree. What I am saying is, we can't have a poll on every issue, but we do need to reach out to more people. And when we disagree, we have to be clear about why.
TB: April 1 is the only election, there is not a primary?
RJ: Yes, and the top three vote-getters are in. Joanne is not up for election—she would be in two years if she decided to run again.
TB: What is your platform?
RJ: We've come across some general themes. We need to have concrete development plans that need to involve community input. And then we need to move forward on those plans. Some folks feel surprised by development proposals that have come forward. We want to be responsible in letting people know. And also to identify in different communities, what their needs are.
TB: What are the neighborhoods of Oak Park? You live at Austin, which is very different than the west side of Oak Park.
RJ: In the western park of Oak Park, the Harlem corridor, there is a lot of synergy there, with transportation, and add pedestrians, bicyclists, and the auto, and you have a real vibrant area. Since I moved here in 1989, the opportunities to do more in Oak Park have never been better than now. We have both national chains and independents—and we are saying we want to keep the right balance. Just east of there are the shops on the Avenue, also a vibrant community. The Village helped build a parking garage, and there is a lot of development, with townhomes, condos, and mixed use.
We need a balance between business and the schools. There has been a lot of discussions about a TIF [Tax Increment Financing District], whether or not the two TIFs [downtown and Madison] should be extended [for 13 more years; making a total of 35 years]. Our TIF is due to expire in 2006. The Village Board has taken a leadership role in working with the school districts to have a dialogue about how they impact schools. Without the right balance, it can cause some serious impact to a school district's budget. [In January] the discussions began about carving out properties that have been within TIFs for a long time, and having the schools receive the taxes on those carved-out properties.
TB: What other development issues are there?
RJ: I want to talk about the gateways. We have Harlem, Austin, Roosevelt, North Avenue. Very busy corridors. We talked a long time about what is the best approach for these corridors. My recommendations are to be more aggressive with focusing developers in other areas of Oak Park, not just around downtown. One inexpensive way to do that is to have public art along the viaducts, along the el embankments, because we raised the el tracks in the 1950s. Get young people involved. I want to talk about building a Village Corps similar to Americorps, to get more young people involved.
TB: Are there education issues?
RJ: No, because the school boards need to manage their business. We can make decisions that impact the schools. But the Village has been great, the police force provides security. Hopefully we can begin dialogue with Springfield about how we finance the schools. People say this year after year. I have built some relationship with our new state Senator, Don Harmon, who is very supportive of LGBT issues, and Debbie Graham, our new state rep., who is also supportive of GLBT issues. We need to move from the property tax base and the homeowners to a sales tax. Both Harmon and Graham also strongly support HB101 [the state gay-rights bill] and I would look forward, if elected Trustee, to work with them anyway I can to insure passage. I think the collaboration between community members and elected officials is critical.
TB: Does the Village play any role vs. Cook County on health issues, AIDS issues?
RJ: The Village has a health department, that does have an HIV/AIDS education prevention components. But a lot of the focus on healthcare issues is through Oak Park Township.
TB: What is the separation?
RJ: This is across Illinois for home-rule communities. They separated social services away from Village policy—the Township handles a lot of that.
TB: Who runs that?
RJ: The community elects a board.
TB: With the same boundaries?
RJ: There is so little interaction from my perspective, that I really know very little about them. There is a Township president, and a board, and a certain amount of our tax dollars goes to them. I think the state could look at that system to be more efficient.
We have a Village Manager, a hired professional who manages Village staff. The Board's role is to set policy and budget for the Village Manager to follow.
TB: Like a corporation?
RJ: Yes. I want to also talk about the needs of the business community. There is a need to help them with marketing, which is a skill I bring. I would love to see us build a database about what businesses' needs are.
TB: There are also environmental issues.
RJ: Yes. We have an issue with regards to Barrie Park. There was an old coal tar plant on the site. ComEd had been the last owner, so the Village, the Park District, ComEd and Nicor are working together. It is almost at gridlock. They have built a sprung structure to contain the contaminents as they do removal. The contaminents are much deeper than they realized, so they are still building a new structure. ... These poor homeowners have had to put up with this for over two years. There are a lot of lawyers involved ... the Village is trying to put pressure on them.
TB: Are there gay issues on the agenda?
RJ: We can always do more with regards to schools and school training. I think it's great for lesbian, gay, bi and trans people to run for office because the greater community gets to work with you on a different level, and you continuously tear down misperceptions about what our community really means. I read this somewhere, that there is no 'gay way' to fill potholes. We're involved because we have a commitment, just like anyone else. We have a lot of lesbian and gay families in Oak Park. It's exciting, and we need to make sure families are focused on. The Village board can really help set the tone for that, from the diversity issue. We celebrate certain cultures, African-American, etc., but the lesbian and gay culture is still low on the priorities of folks.
TB: Did you speak with Joanne about your campaign?
RJ: Yes, the best word to use is encouragement. She has been very supportive.
TB: Have you gotten any backlash?
RJ: Yes, some people would not even sign my petition to get on the ballot because I am 'the gay guy.' I have been out from day one—it is in my biography. One woman who said she was against homosexuality signed my petition anyway because she said she respected that I was not hiding who I am.
See www.openoakpark.org .
