Response to OLPL Library Board Electioneering article

On Monday, March 22, the Oak Lawn Public Library Board of Trustees released a statement to the Oak Lawn Patch in which the Board endorsed the incumbents, Roseann Spoto and Suzanne Marzano, for re-election.

Government entities SHOULD NOT be endorsing ANY candidate. This endorsement by a publicly elected body is, at the very least, inappropriate and in poor judgement. As Oak Lawn residents and private citizens, each person listed (Sue Whisson, Pat O’Donnell, Joe Skibinski and Sean Kelly) could have endorsed candidates they believe in. Instead, they chose to make a charged political statement as an elected board. Shame on you.

As a candidate for Oak Lawn Library Board Trustee, I would like to respond to additional claims made in the statement released by the Library Board.

1. The article claims that the “primary goal” for the current candidates is to “to increase the library budget – and your taxes”. I have read the candidate statements for all five challengers and not one has discussed an increase in the library budget or taxes.
2. The article states, “They [current challengers] claim that we were unfair to our employees and staff, which is also false.” In truth, the library staff is currently moving toward unionization. The efforts to unionize seem to indicate that all is not well between the Board and the OLPL staff.

The Oak Lawn Public Library Board trustees should have held a meeting for all candidates in an effort to have transparency and open talking points about the current financial situation and the future of the library. The Oak Lawn Park District Board did hold such a meeting with candidates. The Library Trustees instead chose to present their political opinion as an elected body and chose not to communicate openly with any of the challengers.

The Oak Lawn Public Library Board of Trustees has unnecessarily set up an adversarial relationship with those who may be elected by the voters of Oak Lawn.

Please take the time to do your research before you vote. Read the candidate statements in the Oak Lawn Patch. Look at each candidate’s website, Facebook, or social media. Research on elections.il.gov to see who has donated to each candidate and who she may or may not be beholden to. Local elections matter. Make an educated voting choice for Oak Lawn Public Library trustee. And stop listening to the loudest voices in the room.