Walk-And-Talk Elmhurst Official Leaving After 8 Years

ELMHURST, IL – Tina Park is known as the Elmhurst alderwoman who likes to have walk-and-talks. And Alderman Brian Cahill's engineering knowledge is considered a boon to the city.

On Monday, the City Council praised the two aldermen. Their terms are expiring early next month.

Park, a fitness coach and former adjunct college math professor, served central Ward 5 for eight years.

In her comments Monday, Park referred to "the walks I force people to go on."

Perhaps it's her walking ways that made her a big proponent of sidewalks. She said she enjoyed tackling "big picture" items such as planning a citywide sidewalk network.

Alderman Guido Nardini said Park had a rule.

"If you want to meet with her, you can't do it over lunch or you can't do it over breakfast because you can't really talk while you eat," Nardini said. "You can, however, talk while you walk or speed walk."

With Park, he said, that means walking with someone whose legs are "three times longer than mine."

"So if you want to be able to speak, you need to be able to have deep lungs because she's moving at breakneck speed. Usually, if you're meeting, it's something she's very passionate about," Nardini said.

Ward 3's two aldermen, Chris Jensen and Michael Bram, both referred to Park's persistence for sidewalks. Their northeast ward has the fewest of them.

"It's great to have you on my side on things such as sidewalks because you work on things with such intense passion," Jensen said. "Your force is undeniable."

Mayor Scott Levin, who was a Ward 5 alderman along with Park before being elected mayor in 2021, praised Park's service.

"We only had one disagreement in eight years, and we can talk about that when I see you walking down a closed York Street some summer."

In 2022, Park and a colleague suggested the city consider closing York at times to further boost downtown businesses. Levin pointedly disagreed.

Levin concluded his speech Monday by saying, "Wonder Woman will go off into the sunset."

Park smiled broadly.

Ward 4 Alderman Brian Cahill speaks about his service during Monday's City Council meeting. (City of Elmhurst/via video)

Cahill's colleagues spoke about how his background helped the city. He has represented central Ward 4 for four years.

Alderwoman Emily Bastedo, chairwoman of the council's public works committee, said Cahill had much more experience and knowledge on many of the subjects that come before the panel. She said she was thankful that Cahill was a member.

"If anything worried me or concerned me, I would just look at you. And if you were OK with something, I was OK with it," she said.

Alderman Mike Brennan echoed Bastedo's point.

"When we would end up going in circles on a particular topic, you were very effective boiling it down," he said.

Levin said Cahill brought a "real-world approach" to city discussions. Over the last year or so, the mayor said, Cahill's work involved a heavy travel schedule.

"I very much appreciate that you stayed engaged and were an active participant as vice chair of the public works committee," Levin said.