Although the mid-term elections just wrapped up months ago, 2011 is shaping up to be another exciting election year in local municipalities all across Illinois.
On April 5 the villages of Oak Park and River Forest are having their municipal elections and, in an unprecedented turn of events, current Oak Park Village Trustee Ray Johnson is running for a third term in office.
When asked why he is running for a third term,the openly gay Johnson said, "I did not make this decision lightly. It is history-making. We are in really challenging economic times and my business experience in budgets and eight years serving on the village board offers the citizens of Oak Park a strong candidate for re-election."
Johnson faces opposition with four other candidates running against him. However, he has teamed up with two of the candidates, Adam Salzman and Bob Tucker, to run as a slate under the banner Citizens for Accountable Leadership.
Their platform includes transparency, good government, economic development to expand the tax base, strong schools and public safety. Their mission is centered on a strong message which is focused on enhanced technology, customer service and most importantly fiscal discipline where they are looking at ways to streamline governments and save the taxpayer's money.
They have already been endorsed by the Village Manager Association, a local organization that is committed to the principles of accountable and responsive government; ongoing and inclusive diversity; and balanced and sensitive economic growth. Village Manager Association President Brad Bartels said of the three, "We believe that they possess diverse backgrounds and experiences that make them well suited to tackle the pressing issues of the Village in an effective and inclusive manner. All three candidates have demonstrated that they are thoroughly committed to public service."
In asking Johnson about their campaign he said they have knocked on more than 2,400 doors in the community. "It is an accomplishment since it's just the three of us and we go out every Saturday and Sunday all day to meet the voters and get their feedback and concerns," Johnson said, adding that they are getting a great response from the people.
Regarding his qualifications for office, Johnson pointed to his experience working for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation over the last 28 years, most recently as program manager in community investments. Johnson said the job, where he focuses on sustainability and education opportunities for low-income people, gives him a window into the current financial issues facing every level of business and government. He wants to continue working for the people of Oak Park as their trustee for another term to tackle these issues.
When Johnson is not out campaigning or working at his day job he has been busy as trustee, focusing on the budget. He, along with the other trustees, are involved in a project which has generated controversy that will provide housing for low wage workers and will be located in a combination commercial/residential neighborhood. Another fiscal issue that has come up is a tax-increase referendum to help fund the elementary school district—which hasn't happened in 22 years.
One other interesting development in Johnson's life in the last few months involves the "It Gets Better" campaign: "Colette [Lueck, another trustee] and I kicked off the campaign for Oak Park and one of the first events was at the Oak Park Area Lesbian and Gay Association Gala. With the support of the village and the local TV station they filmed the entire crowd gathered around massive cue cards to re-state the It Gets Better pledge for the camera.
"Then we did individual video testimonials with the guests at the gala and it's been incorporated into a video that is posted on Facebook, Youtube and the village website," Johnson said. They also teamed up with Oak Park River Forest High School Gay-Straight Alliance with the students creating their own It Gets Better videos. They will also be rolled into the larger video montage.
Also, political and community leaders participated in this project, with about 250 people represented in the video itself. A videographer is going to edit the entire thing together with a music bed before it is submitted to the It Gets Better website.
Another outgrowth of Johnson's visibility in the community has resulted in a young lady named Rachel Durbin-Nowicki receiving a college scholarship. Durbin-Nowicki is a member of the Oak Park River Forest High School Gay-Straight Alliance as a straight ally (her mom is a lesbian) who took on a leadership role in showing the harmful effects of bullying. Johnson said Durbin-Nowicki was inspired to do more after watching him at work as a trustee so she applied for a scholarship with the Illinois Dollars for Scholars program called the Lincolnland Legend Scholarship.
Durbin-Nowicki nominated Johnson and wrote a 1,000-word essay focused on how he demonstrates the attributes of Lincoln in the areas of community service and volunteerism. Her essay was selected from their Illinois congressional district so Durbin-Nowicki is traveling with Johnson to the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Museum and Library in Springfield April 9 to attend a gala where she will receive the scholarship.
Another scholarship prize is given to both the student and the subject of the essay to give to their high school of choice. Both Johnson and Durbin-Nowicki chose to give their money to Oak Park River Forest High School to continue to support the gay-straight alliance.
If elected, Johnson said he wants to work with the community to bring the local taxing bodies together and break down the silos that prevent effective work from being done. He also wants to work with Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel to improve Chicago and Oak Park in the areas of public safety, schools and public-transit issues.
As for LGBT equality, Johnson said he wants to build on the inclusive environment that Oak Park has prided itself on for years. One of the ways he is already doing that is working with schools to strengthen the anti-bullying language in the student code of conduct rule book and making sure that all the municipalities across Oak Park have the same language with regards to anti-discrimination rules.
Johnson said, "We have a very dynamic LGBT community that provides such great opportunity and experience for the entire Chicagoland area. We are leaders each in our own way and we need to lead by example to make things better for our community."
To find out more about Johnson's campaign, visit the Citizens for Accountable Leadership website at www.votecal.com . To view the It Gets Better videos, visit http://www.youtube.com/opitgetsbetter#p/u.
