Joel Seeskin: Candidate For Deerfield Park District Board

DEERFIELD, IL — Ahead of the April 6 consolidated municipal elections, Deerfield Patch provided questionnaires to all candidates on the ballot.

Six candidates are vying for three seats on the Deerfield Park District Board of Commissioners on Election Day. They include three incumbents Rick Patinkin (current president), Gil Antokal and Greg Lapin. The challengers are Michael Brown, Joel Seeskin and Debbie Serota.

Deerfield Patch is publishing all responses submitted by candidates verbatim.

Joel Seeskin

Age (as of Election Day)

37

Town/City of Residence

Deerfield

Office Sought

Park board

Party Affiliation (if a partisan race)

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

B.S. Political Science, Illinois State University

Occupation

I've been in Supply Chain and Logistics for 15 years. I'm currently the Operations Manager for a transportation brokerage and have been in this role for 1.5 years.

Campaign website

www.freshvoicesfordeerfieldparks.com

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

None.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The single most pressing issue facing our park district is continuing budget unpredictability and instability due to reduced programming during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is not an issue that is unique to the Deerfield Park District, but that doesn’t make it any less pressing. As a Park Commissioner, I will encourage community involvement, solicit feedback, and be supportive of new, more COVID-friendly programming ideas that help ensure a stable and sustainable budget that Deerfield taxpayers want. Whether that’s moving classes outdoors when possible, or figuring out how to allow for more intergenerational programming, I think these are all areas that need to be looked at closely and as quickly as possible.

Do you support Black Lives Matter and what are your thoughts on the demonstrations held since the death of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake?

I do support Black Lives Matter and I support the rights of all people to protest non-violently and to engage in civil discourse to seek the changes they need.

Do you think the current board has done enough to support racial equality, and if not, what specifically should be done to do so?

Deerfield, like much of America, has a past when it comes to matters involving race. Hiding from it, or trying to put our past in a better light than what it actually was, is wrong and only leads to distrust and skepticism. So when the current board changed the name of Mitchell Park to Floral Park because of those events in our local history, but chose to keep Mitchell Pool despite the strong recommendation by the advisory committee, that left a lot of questions for me mainly because the answers from the current board were so few. Chief among them, how exactly did you come to that decision? And why have an advisory committee if you don’t plan to take the committee’s primary and well-reasoned advice? I think the correct action for the board to take would be to take the committee’s entire recommendation, rename Mitchell Pool, and complete the work needed to fulfill the balance of our recommendation as well. This is a necessary step on a longer path of education and reconciliation to counter our history of discrimination. I believe the Park District can contribute to putting Deerfield on a better path towards racial justice and making our community more inclusive.

What are your thoughts on the national and local coronavirus response? Do you favor measures such as limiting operation of non-essential businesses and restricting indoor/outdoor dining? And do you favor a local mask mandate?

I am so appreciative of everyone who has helped push our COVID-19 response forward. Because of the nature of the problem, we all understand that it is a very fine line between protecting our public health and limiting operations of these businesses that people depend on for their livelihood. While I am not medical professional and would defer to the advice of experts in those fields, I think as a community it is important we make a concerted effort to show our support to local businesses that have been negatively affected by the public health guidelines. As far as masks, the medical professionals tell us that wearing masks properly will save lives so I’d ask everyone, out of care and concern for others, to wear a properly-fitted mask that covers your mouth and nose whenever you are out in public until we receive further advice from our health professionals. We can all do our part to save lives.

What are your thoughts on the state and local coronavirus vaccine distribution, and how do you think local governments should work together to handle vaccine rollout?

I think the vaccine distribution had its difficulties at first, but like all new processes, I think we just needed time to work out some of the bugs and figure out where we can make the right fixes to make the most dramatic improvements. I also think that having more vaccines produced by more companies has been a wonderful development that has also helped accelerate distribution. I think distribution of the vaccine should be an “all hands on deck” approach and if the health professionals say there is a role for local governments to play, including the Park District, then they should work together in good faith to figure it out because there is nothing more important than our public health and safety. I commend all of the medical, logistical, military, and business professionals who have put in countless hours to develop, deliver, and administer these vaccines in order to save lives.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I am a problem solver. I’ve spent my entire career in the Supply Chain and Logistics industry focusing on how to move goods safer, faster, easier, or cheaper. At times, that’s meant getting creative. At other times, that’s meant not being afraid to try and make improvements and then continually refine the process along the way as more information comes in. But by breaking things down in this way, complex problems become simplified and improvements becomes easier to measure and quantify. I think the skillset that I will bring to the Park Board will be a unique perspective and will be a benefit to both the Park District and the greater Deerfield community.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

After serving on the Mitchell Park Advisory Committee, it became apparent to me that the Park Board wasn’t fully invested in listening to our recommendations as an advisory committee. Our recommendation was to rename both Mitchell Park and Mitchell Pool. However, the board chose their own path instead, leaving Mitchell Pool at what is now our Floral Park. Leading up to and throughout my campaign, I have spoken with many people who have had good, relevant, and well-intentioned ideas that were turned away by this park board. The failure of this board to properly listen to and act on community input is predictable given their longtime service on the board with very few challenges over the years. There has not been a challenger to an incumbent Park Board Commissioner in over a decade, and some commissioners have served for over two decades. We see this play out all the time when long-time politicians are able to make even the most difficult votes without worry or fear because they know there will be no political consequences for them. Is this really what we want for our local Park District?

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

As a member of the Fresh Voices for Deerfield Parks slate, our campaign has 4 main pillars that represent the values we would bring to our service on the Park District Board: Accountability to the People, Bringing New Ideas, Fiscal Responsibility, and Inclusivity. I invite you to read more about these pillars and our vision at www.freshvoicesfordeerfieldparks.com.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I think my most relevant accomplishment was when I managed the reverse logistics for the largest manufacturer of aluminum beverage cans in North America. They had more than 50 production lines running 24/7 at 15 locations in the US and Canada. If you lived in the US or Eastern Canada and had a can of your favorite pop, energy drink, or beer between 2014-2017, there’s a good chance I helped put it in your hand. I entered that role with only some applicable experience and I completed that role having achieved the most important goal I was given, never let production stop. What I learned about myself in that time is that I learn quickly on the job, that I am someone who excels at managing complex processes while keeping a strong focus on risk management, that I am able to analyze large amounts of information and produce reasoned decisions, and that I have the ability to set high goals for myself and achieve them.

If you win this position, what accomplishment would make your term in office as a success?

There are many things I would hope to achieve in my term in office. I think our Park District needs to put further focus on community involvement. I hope to look at ways to provide tax relief to people without sacrificing service or quality. I think we need to take a fresh look at the current Park District Strategic Plan and develop goals for the next 5-7 years that help solidify our future. Some ideas I would like to see are the development of more sustainable and eco-friendly initiatives, continued support of affiliate programs like DYBSA, AYSO, COHO, Pegasus, and others, and the creation of a Pandemic Preparedness Plan because we can’t be caught flat-footed again if COVID-19 variants start to rise or there is another widespread disease that is affecting the public health and the ability of the Park District to carry out its mission.

Why should voters trust you?

As a husband and a father, I would never do anything to risk the trust that my own family puts in me. And as one of the candidates in this election that has been publicly endorsed by local leaders State Rep. Bob Morgan and Congressman Brad Schneider, I’m honored to have earned their public trust and support and hope that other Deerfield voters will feel the same. Additionally, I look forward to building relationships with any member of the community who wants to make a positive difference in the lives of their children, their neighbors, and the Deerfield community.

What are your views on fiscal policy, government spending and the use of taxpayer dollars in the office you are seeking?

Right now there are still many people who are out of work because they were let go, or furloughed because of COVID-19, and many businesses are still working their way back to pre-COVID revenues. Given where we are at with the pandemic, I believe our Park District Board has a duty to the voters to be particularly diligent and thorough in their spending decisions, especially with capital expenditure projects over the next 4 years. I think the word “value” is going to be very important. As a Park Board Commissioner, I will want to make sure that Deerfield gets the most value possible for every tax dollar spent.

Is there any reason you would not serve your full term of office, other than those of health or family?

No.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

I’m quoting my father because he’s the one who shared this wisdom with me, “You get out of life exactly what you put in.”

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

Aside from my involvement with the Mitchell Park Advisory Committee, I’ve coached both of my sons in DYBSA and AYSO. As my daughter grows older, I look forward to supporting her in whatever activities she chooses. Being a parent has been the most difficult, especially this past year, and the most rewarding experience of my life. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the course of the last year, it’s the importance of having a good government that listens and is accountable to the people so that our kids hopefully never have to go through this again when they are grown and have families of their own. I hope that the people of Deerfield will trust me with the opportunity to help lead our Park District and ensure that we have good governance here in Deerfield into the future.