Oak Parkers have a choice for village president between incumbent Vicki Scaman and current Board of Trustees member Ravi Parakkat. 

While the candidates agree on some points, such as promoting sustainability and building a new police station, they have different overall priorities. For example, Scaman advocates a transparent local government that provides services, whereas Parakkat wants to attract business development and make village government more efficient. 

Voters will make their choice April 1 in Oak Park’s municipal elections, in which village residents elect local government officials (see voter guide, page 7). 

The village president is the face of the community and has many responsibilities as head of the local government. They plan the board meeting agendas, make decisions about the budget and how to use tax dollars and adopt ordinances for the community, among other things. In Oak Park, the village government takes a third of the property taxes to fund municipal services like the police and fire department, street and sewer maintenance, garbage collection and more.

“All these services impact a citizen’s life every day. And the village president and trustees decide the outcome and cost of all these services,” said Peggy Kell, a member of the League of Women’s Voters. “That’s why their election is important. Transparency in government starts at the local level. It’s important to pay attention.”

During their campaigns so far, Scaman and Parakkat have laid out their different approaches to governing.

Scaman wants to “run a positive campaign,” she said. “The most obvious difference when I hear from the people who are supporting me, is that I am collaborative, I’m a transformational leader and it’s not about me.”

Parakkat took aim at Scaman’s leadership style. “I don’t believe we are going in the right direction,” he said. “We’re kind of spinning the wheels on a lot of issues, and I feel like with my background, I can be effective in moving this community forward, by focusing on what matters to Oak Parkers.”

As Parakkat views it, there have been “a lot of long meetings with very little accomplishment to show for it…We are not focused and we are not effective, and those are governance functions,” he said.

He voiced particular concern about Scaman’s handling of the migrant crisis in 2023 and 2024, in which approximately 200 migrants arrived in Oak Park. According to reporting in Trapeze, local volunteers found homes for all of them, with support from government funds.  “While 200 individuals were rehoused, the process consumed six months of staff time, neglecting critical board goals and essential functions,” Parakkat wrote in a December letter to the Wednesday Journal. 

“I am proud of the migrant response,” Scaman said. “I also respect my colleagues who felt that it was a national failure. It was. But that didn’t mean that we didn’t have the responsibility to respond, and the fact that we are getting the dollars through the proper resources, it came ultimately down from the federal government, means we stepped up in a way that not every community did.” 

Scaman has served as village president since 2021. For four years before that, she held the office of village clerk, overseeing Oak Park’s elections and official records. 

Scaman began her career as an art teacher in District 148 in the south suburbs and later worked in the restaurant industry and nonprofit management. She was the executive director for the Steckman Studio of Music in Oak Park for 12 years and chaired Oak Park’s Liquor Control Board.

Scaman has also been a board member for the Oak Park Chamber of Commerce and volunteered with organizations like the Addiction Recovery Team and West Garfield Park Community Stakeholders Coalition.

With her social services background, Scaman felt she was “already connected with not just the township, but organizations like Thrive, like the Community Mental Health Board, like the library and in our schools on different committees.” Scaman is running for reelection because she wants “the people who live here to be proud and to have what they need to live and thrive.” 

Parakkat has business and community service experience that he hopes to bring to the role of village president. He spent 13 years as a senior partner at Publicis Sapient, a business consulting and services company. Currently, Parakkat works for Junior Achievement of Chicago, part of Junior Achievement worldwide, a nonprofit working to “inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy,” according to its website.

Parakkat has also done a lot of work within sustainability. He has been a Climate Action Ambassador for the Illinois Green Alliance, a Commissioner for the Energy and Environment Commission in Oak Park and an original member of the Climate Action Network, which created the Climate Ready Oak Park plan. 

Takeout 25, a nonprofit organization created to support restaurants during the pandemic, was also founded by Parakkat. 

“I expanded the mission from initially being just focused on saving our local businesses from the pandemic to then expand that and include sustainability in our food systems as part of that mission,” said Parakkat.

Scaman said she has also prioritized sustainability throughout her political career and wants “Oak Park to be known as a sustainability leader.” She co-founded the Cross Community Climate Collaborative, an organization with Seven Generations Ahead that currently works with 14 communities to share ideas and resources.

In a second term, Scaman hopes to expand that network. “There are a wealth of grants out there right now that are exactly for that purpose, which will continue to bring even more dollars to the Village of Oak Park for sustainability, but it will also increase its impact,” said Scaman. “Every dollar that we spend here in Oak Park will go further because we won’t be the only ones doing it.”

This philosophy is something that Scaman hopes to bring to other aspects of government. “We’ve got to partner with our neighboring communities so that our investment goes further and is more impactful,” she said. 

If reelected, Scaman hopes to strengthen the relationship between the village and the township and work to close the gaps of service between them, as well as make village records more accessible and transparent for residents. 

In 2017, Scaman pitched an “open portal to all of our data collection.” At the time, it was turned down, “but now we are moving forward with that, led by current Village Clerk Christina Waters” said Scaman. “From my perspective, the best way to increase trust with your community…is to open up the books.” 

Scaman also plans to rehabilitate Village Hall because of a “need to be more accessible,” move forward with the plans to build a new police station and get closer to a fully staffed police force during a second term.

During the pandemic, many police officers left Oak Park when other communities were offering larger bonuses. The current police force is understaffed by 30%, according to reporting by the Wednesday Journal. “We definitely need to get closer to where we are fully staffed,” said Scaman. “We’ve made great strides in the second half of 2024 where we’ve seen some of the police officers who left Oak Park…come back.”

“I led on increasing our pay so that we’re highly competitive, as well as things like maternity leave for both men and women…and that is attracting new recruits to Oak Park,” said Scaman.

The building of a new police station is also hoped to help with the shortage. Scaman and Parakkat agree that this project is necessary. “One of the aspects that will help us attract the right kind of people who are consistent with our values into this community to come and serve us is having a facility that is updated,” said Parakkat.

 They do not agree, however, about whether or not Village Hall needs to be redone. “We need to be able to have a space where people feel like they can safely do their job,” said Scaman. Scaman believes that Village Hall is not accessible enough, and that the village must “address its functionality for both the people who work here and its accessibility to the community.”

Parakkat believes that the Board of Trustees has “mistakenly linked the established need for a new police facility with a Village Hall demolish and rebuild.” This has led to community pushback given the cost of the remodel. “We’re delayed in building a reasonably priced police station by two years and more,” said Parakkat.

Parakkat is running a campaign focused on safety and health, developing Oak Park in a “sustainable and equitable manner,” and “developing this community using private investments, as opposed to using just tax dollars.” 

Over the course of his term if elected, Parakkat is committing to “attract $500 million of private investments into this community,” he said. “That is where my background in business…and my relationships will definitely help in being able to do that.”

In 2022, Parkkat advocated for keeping the levy flat and not increasing taxes for residents. “We can talk all we want about affordability, but unless we do something around spending…it’s not going to be possible,” he said. “I’ve really been a very vocal and effective advocate for responsible spending and better tax management.”

Beyond tax management, Parakkat also plans to prioritize efficiency, something he believes has lacked during his time as a trustee.

He believes “25 years of experience in business, nonprofit, consulting and community service” will allow him to “effectively govern a board with transparency, accountability, oversight and the competence to facilitate meetings that are results oriented and move the community forward,” he said.

Scaman defended her record and said she espouses a “collaborative servant style of leadership,” which “works to improve trust, transparency and effectiveness, and be more responsive to our community overall.”

Voters will make their choice April 1 at the polls. Please see the Trapeze Voter Guide on page 7 for additional information about how to register and cast your ballot.