Oak Park council interviews six candidates; deadline looms for appointment

Oak Park’s City Council interviewed six local applicants June 8 in a special meeting to fill an open council seat, with candidates emphasizing park accessibility, transparency in government and efforts to attract and support small businesses.

City Manager Eric Tungate opened the session by noting the legal constraint that frames the process: “section 5.7 of the charter” requires a council appointment within 30 days for vacancies occurring more than 90 days before the next regular election. Council members said they will review interview tapes and application materials and submit a confidential top choice to the city manager before a Monday meeting set to produce a final appointment.

The candidates offered overlapping priorities but different backgrounds. Rebecca Berman said she wants to add the perspectives of young mothers and parents of medically complex children to council and urged a focus on making public spaces accessible. “I want to be on city council because I believe that every voice needs to be heard,” Berman said, and recommended ramps to play structures, harnessed swings for older children with special needs, symbol boards for nonverbal children and Braille signage in parks.

Jocelyn Coats highlighted volunteer service on the commission for arts, culture and diversity and said her work organizing events and coordinating vendors left her focused on community engagement and on using social media and events to involve younger residents.

A candidate identified in the record as Miss Davis described nearly 30 years as a licensed social worker and work in organizational policy. She said transparency and communicating the rationale behind decisions are central to strengthening resident trust, but clarified that personnel complaints fall to department leadership rather than the council.

Jason Deno, a trustee on the Berkeley school board, framed his service around children’s needs and urged involving stakeholders early in change initiatives. He and others pointed to the city’s upcoming community center and longstanding budget constraints as major issues the new council member will confront.

Miss White and Karen (first‑name only in the record) described long local ties and longstanding volunteer work. Both proposed practical measures to reduce civic apathy and expand participation, from promoting boards and commissions to low‑cost community projects such as tool libraries, community gardens and storytelling events that could engage seniors and other residents.

Mayor Mlen and other council members said they would come back to a public meeting Monday with a name to vote on, while also following a confidentiality procedure advised by the city attorney: each member will provide a single, confidential top choice to the city manager ahead of the meeting so the council can see whether a majority exists. The council cautioned that if no candidate receives a majority they will need public deliberation and repeated voting until a majority is achieved. City staff said the appointee would be sworn in at the next available date after the vote.

No formal motion or appointment was made at the special meeting. The interviews and subsequent deliberations set the timetable and parameters for the public decision on the appointment, required by charter to occur within the 30‑day window.