𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀

I’ve come to believe our village board 𝘄𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 — 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁. Many residents have told me that it is a waste of time because the village board will simply do as they wish. But when residents step back, we leave room for decisions to be made without us.

That’s why 𝗔𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗼𝗱 exists as a tool to 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗯𝗼𝗿𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱. To be clear, we support of all types of development that promotes our business district and that is also financially responsible to the taxpayers.

I’ll admit, I’ve wanted to walk away more than once. But, our village needs more engaged residents. The connection between the board and the people it represents has weakened, and it’s up to us to restore it.

Here are a few points I believe deserve our attention:

• The sale of village land should always include a fair valuation.
• No property should be sold without negotiation, especially since this parking lot was purchased using funds from a 20-year special tax assessment on property owners.
• Shorewood already has plenty of affordable housing (more on this soon).
• Renters on North Oakland shouldn’t be penalized for owning cars.
• North Oakland severely lacks the number of parking spots required by village code.
• The Spoerl development takes too much public funding for too little return.

Our trustees face a tough job and deserve respect for their service. But resident 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 – 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 – 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱’𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮.

With our 𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, priorities will inevitably shift. My hope is that we 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 — 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀.

𝗥𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 $𝟭 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 could make all the difference in keeping our district whole and avoiding a potential school campus closure.

Let’s stay informed. Let’s stay connected. And let’s make our voices count. Sign up here to stay informed, support our village, and ultimately democracy.

http://affordableshorewood.org/

Image: Businesses and apartments on North Oakland.