Applications Open To Become Skokie Park District Commissioner

SKOKIE, IL — Anyone interested in serving as a Skokie Park District commissioner without having to run for election has less than three weeks to apply for an appointment to fill a vacancy on the five-member board.

Former Commissioner Mary Oshana stepped down from the board more than two months ago. Whoever the remaining four commissioners select to fill her seat will serve until April 2025.

Voters next year will elect a candidate to serve the remaining two years of Oshana's term in office, which was due to run until 2027.

Oshana was elected to the park district board in April 2021 over three other candidates.

According to the district, Oshana grew up in Skokie, works in capital planning and facilities management and established the Assyrian Community Fund of Greater Chicago with her husband.

Oshana announced her plan to resign at the district's Nov. 21 board meeting, notifying her fellow commissioners that she had moved and was no longer a Skokie resident. She thanked fellow commissioners and district staff for the chance to serve on the board, describing it as "truly an honor," according to meeting minutes.

The district holds regular meetings on the third Tuesday of every money, as well as an annual budget meeting in March. (The Skokie Park District has a policy of not recording its board's meetings, even though it maintains a YouTube video channel and a website.)

All interested residents are invited to apply for the position through Feb. 20. Interviews will be scheduled in March, with questions forwarded to applicants before in-person interviews at the Skokie Park District's Weber Leisure Center, 9300 Weber Park Place, Skokie.

Applications can be completed online.