Too Many EP Residents Feel Disconnected From Village, Challengers Say

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — The slate of candidates representing the Evergreen Park Community have pledged that when elected, all Village meetings will be livestreamed. The videos will be available and archived on the village’s website. In addition, there will be periodic live town hall meetings conveniently located in each quadrant of the village.

“The people of Evergreen Park deserve open, honest and transparent government," said William Lorenz, the party’s candidate for mayor. “That’s exactly what we intend to give them. From the $2,000 per household lead pipe fiasco to updates on efforts to keep EP safe, our intent is to make our residents the best-informed people on the planet as regards their local government.”

Trustee candidate Ryan Reitz is an IT project manager.

“There is no reason Evergreen Park residents can’t keep an eye on what their village is up to in real time,” Reitz said. “In today’s world, technology moves at the speed of light. Residents should be able to watch the meetings live from the comfort of their living room or from any smart device, or later at their leisure. There’s no longer any excuse for keeping residents in the dark.”

Terri Daley is an EP Community Party trustee candidate, and a resident of Evergreen Park for 40-plus years.

“We intend to make clear that when elected, we work for the residents of Evergreen Park,” she said. “Sometimes it seems with this administration, they have it backwards, almost as if they don’t want to be inconvenienced by ‘nosy’ residents daring to ask questions about business done in their name.”

Eventually, the EP Community Party wants to also allow residents to interact with village officials at meetings virtually instead of requiring them to attend in person. “The technology is there to allow every Evergreen Park resident to ask questions at any meeting by signing in using zoom-like technology,” Lorenz said. “There are some bugs to be worked out before we can do it, but it needs to be done.”

Reitz noted that this is happening all over America.

“Congressman Krishnamoorthi recently held a virtual town hall meeting with tens of thousands of participants,” Reitz said. “Good public officials aren’t afraid to answer questions.”

Daley said another priority is getting the village website up to speed.

“Budgets, financial statements, FOIA logs, and many other items on the site haven’t been updated for years,” she said. It’s almost as if they don’t want residents to know what they are doing.”

The municipal election is April 1. Early voting is from March 17 through March 31.