Pictured Oak Park Village President Trapani. Photo by Andrew Davis.
If the general perception of a politician is someone who is egocentric and mendacious, Joanne Trapani definitely stands apart. As laid-back as she is candid, Trapani is a refreshing change from the political prototype.
However, in little over a month, Trapani will take her honest Everywoman persona with her; she is stepping down from her post as village president of Oak Park after a four-year term. ( Elections are April 5 and the new official will assume the seat in early May. )
After taking Windy City Times on a tour of Oak Park, which features plenty of new construction projects but still has a small-town feel, Trapani—a 1993 inductee into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame—talked in two separate venues ( the Greek restaurant Papaspiros and her home ) about her own past, present, and future.
Windy City Times: You're a native New Yorker. Why did you move to Illinois?
Joanne Trapani: I got a job. In 1977, I moved here to work with an investment banking firm. I worked on Wall Street while I was going to school. The company I worked with there was in discussion to merge with a larger one; I just assumed that the smaller firm would be gobbled up, so I started looking for another job. I was then offered a job in Chicago and I haven't looked back.
WCT: So how did you end up in Oak Park?
JT: Actually, I wasn't certain that I was going to stay [ in the Chicagoland area ] . However, in 1980, my parents passed away and I realized that I probably wasn't going to move back to New York. Plus, I had become very fond of the Midwest. So, I started looking around for places to buy a home. I looked in Evanston, but [ that suburb ] was problematic. It turned out that a friend of mine was living here in Oak Park. I explored the area and liked it, so I've been in Oak Park since '81, I believe.
WCT: Why politics?
JT: Oh Lord. I grew up in the '60s and I don't think there was a moment when I wasn't interested in politics. I can honestly tell you that I remember handing out pamphlets when John Kennedy ran for president—and that was an extraordinary thing for a kid. I grew up in a working-class Catholic environment but the thought of seeing this president, who had this empathy, this innate understanding of ordinary, everyday existence ... .
When you get into high school and college and you're dealing with the Vietnam War and civil rights, you get caught up in wanting to make things better. I can remember sitting with my mother watching the news; people were getting hosed. She said [ the violence ] was not the reason that she emigrated from Hungary; she wanted to get away from Hitler. Basically, my generation couldn't help but get involved politically. You had the women's movement, and then the gay-rights movement in New York was part of who I was.
WCT: Around the time of Stonewall?
JT: Oh God, yes. I remember going and watching the streets burn [ as well as ] going to city hall and trying, in the '60s and '70s, to get New York to pass an ordinance.
I always view politics as a way to facilitate doing something for someone else, you know what I mean? It never dawned on me that politics was equated with being egocentric. I think that, if you're going to bring about a positive change in your environment, politics is one way to do it. Not everyone's going to be happy ... but it's a way to make things better.
WCT: You've been president for four years, correct?
JT: Well, put it in dog years. It feels like 28. I say this tongue-in-cheek.
WCT: What are you proudest of?
JT: I was on the village board for four years [ before becoming president for four years ] and served with a wonderful group of people. With a municipal government, I think what people lose sight of is that there should be some sort of continuity, whether it's a continuity of purpose or one of outcome. When I was a trustee, what we essentially tried to do was to stabilize and improve municipal services. We wanted to make certain that we work with schools to provide quality education.
In those four years, the vision that I had began to grow. There needed to be a way to optimize the potential. There needed to be a way to expand the tax base. There needed to be a way to make certain that we had a capital improvement plan and the financial wherewithal to see it through to completion. There had to be way, I thought, to make sure that new developments and business retention played a major part in what we were trying to accomplish, which you do in a myriad of ways. For example, you can make sure that your zoning laws are as complete and accommodating ( to business development ) as they can be.
By doing those things, you set a tone for the municipal government's response to the interest of business development while, at the same time, understanding that the schools, libraries, and parks depend on the [ local ] government's actions. We try to make strategic investments all across the town.
There was also the remediation program that Nicor [ Gas Co. ] and Commonwealth Edison had with the village to [ clean up ] Barrie Park which, at one time, was the site of a manufactured gas plant. The village was able to negotiate one of the most profound and complicated clean-up programs in the history of Illinois. The terms and conditions that the villages and utilities agreed to involved the companies agreeing to relocate residents at the utilities' expense while the project was going on. They even paid for the residents' attorneys' fees and damages to homes. Finally, at the last village board meeting, the utilities agreed to partner with [ Oak Park ] in a grant-and-loan program to the tune of up to $700,000—in addition to what they had already done. [ Note: According to a Northern Illinois University Web page on the clean-up, the companies also agreed to provide new equipment at Barrie and nearby Rehm Parks as well provide indemnity and insurance protecting the village and the park district against future claims associated with the project. ] So I'm pretty proud of that.
I'm also proud of being able to attract new development. You see new housing and new municipal garages. There's now a new Oak Park Volvo dealership that we have because we believe so strongly in retaining business here. We took a dealership that had outgrown its base on Madison Street and relocated it to a new facility.
Also, the board has been extraordinary. We haven't had to raise the village's levy ( regarding the taxes connected with the operating fund ) over the past several years. Something else I'm proud of is the fact that the village was able to transfer $150,000 to the housing authority ( which the federal government cut funds to ) so that people wouldn't be thrown out and so kids wouldn't have to leave school. So we take our commitment to diversity seriously.
Illinois ranks 49th out of 50 states in terms of funding education. Some school districts take huge hits. Here, the government transferred $1.2 million to fund the transportation program connected with the multicultural center. We believe that there has to be a partnership among and between the village institutions to make the town progress. So I'm proud of that as well.
WCT: Any regrets?
JT: Oh, a few. We have an interesting form of government; it's a council-manager form where everyone serves at-large. The town gets attention as attention is required.
Consequently, there's a great deal of work to do. It takes its toll. There are a lot of meetings to attend. The president sets the agenda and chairs the meetings. You don't have a lot of personal time. I have a full-time job as well [ with the Cook County Commission on Human Rights ] . There are a lot of activities you don't have time for. You spend less time at home. I certainly haven't read for pleasure as much as I'd like.
Also, you can't make everybody happy. A couple of weeks ago I gave a speech to the League of Women Voters, in which I used the quote 'I wish I were as sure of anything as my opponent is of everything.' I think we have a tendency to not look for the positive things in our environment; we seek out the negative things. Also, I think that we concentrate on what's good for 'me' as opposed to what's good for 'us.'
We've had meetings in which people were vocal about negative things. [ However, Oak Park features ] an excellent school system and library system. We also have the most dedicated, hard-working municipal staff ... .
WCT: What's the biggest misconception about Oak Park?
JT: [ Laughs. ] Well ... I think what's interesting is that, when you look at anything from the inside out, things look different than from the outside in. Because I've been the village president, I see things differently than you might. You might see the result; you don't see what process goes into creating that final product. So I think the biggest misconception that people have ( in general ) is that things happen automatically. They don't. They need to be planned and thought out—and not just from a single perspective. Things need to be cultivated carefully.
The other misconception we have is that people will always tell the truth. The truth is a fuzzy thing; what's my truth may not be your truth. I also think we take it for granted that we [ make up ] a liberal, progressive community—and I'm not always sure that's true. There are some things that we're good at and there are some things that we still have to figure out. We are diverse, racially and economically—but we still have to figure out how to live that way. That involves sharing power and responsibility as well as taking credit for the good and taking responsibility for other things. We're still trying to work through that.
From the outside in, you see a wonderful environment. You see streets being paved and permits in every window. But if you look as I see it ... we have a high school that's a wonderful place—but it's struggling with an achievement gap between African-American and white students. We look at an elementary system that's also struggling with an achievement gap. I want us to close the gaps not only there but with the economically disadvantaged and the [ privileged ] . I think we need to take a bigger role in advocating a better state and federal response to healthcare. I think we need a more global perspective regarding education and how it's funded. We have to take a much more active role in housing to make sure we don't have those huge gaps in service.
The perception is that we're all done with that, and we're not. I was in Washington, D.C., recently and talked with Congressman Davis and Senators Obama and Durbin about mitigating environmental impacts of the Eisenhower Expressway between Austin and Harlem. ... With a lot of things, it seems that the federal government has abrogated its responsibilities regarding housing and education. Also, the state is abrogating its responsibilities. Recently, it talked about [ cutting off ] its responsibilities regarding the maintenance of state roads that go through communities. Well, that includes Oak Park, Maywood, and Melrose Park [ among others ] . When you shift the burden so dramatically to small municipalities, other essential services have to be cut—and, frankly, that's tragic. We can't just worry about the people within our borders.
WCT: Why are you stepping down?
JT: [ Smiles. ] Well, [ her partner ] Mary said that she'd divorce me [ if I became president again ] . We have a new pastor at our church. When he first came to Oak Park, I told him that there are three things that are very difficult: preaching, teaching, and governing. Quite frankly, eight years [ on the board ] is a long time. No matter what you do, there's a point at which personal attacks ( week after week ) become a little difficult to manage. I understand it ... the absence of attacks [ would ] mean that I haven't done anything. The attacking, though, has become very personal and I don't want Mary to have to deal with it. She's been an extraordinary trouper over the past four years.
There is a tendency to vilify. When you do that, you lose the ability to have a natural civil discussion. I've accomplished a fair amount and I'm happy with what I've done. Perhaps in another time and place, I would've stood again—but this is neither the time nor the place.
WCT: So what's in your future?
JT: Well ... I'm not certain. Up until recently, [ Mary and I ] thought that we'd spend a month volunteering at an AIDS hospice in South Africa. However, we may have to delay that until the fall.
WCT: What advice do you have for your successor?
JT: There was a book I read a while back—Christopher Edley's Not All Black and White. [ The author ] was in President Clinton's first administration and he was appointed to look into facilitating an affirmative-action program. Regarding his experience, he said he was constantly presenting additional information and what he thought was that people were trying to stall decision-making by requesting more data. He thought that, by doing so, you merely elongate the list of pros and cons, whatever that topic might be ... . There comes a point at which enough information is just that: enough. My advice to anyone is to analyze the information and then make a decision based on what you have. Having more information doesn't guarantee a good decision or a more positive outcome.
