Elected officials from village government and Oak Park school districts should work together for the benefit of taxpayers, says Village President Anan Abu-Taleb.
The message will be the focus of his next public forum, scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. at the Main Library, 834 Lake Street. Abu-Taleb will be joined by District 200 School Board President John Phelan.
Following his mantra since taking office that “taxpayers are not an endless resource,” Abu-Taleb said in a news release, “All elected officials need to work together to use your tax dollars efficiently and effectively.”
He emphasized the importance of the village and various school boards to work together to prevent unnecessary and wasteful spending.
Phelan said in the news release that, “An important part of intergovernmental cooperation is to keep in mind the balance between the long-term and short-term interests of the community. Current spending, handled wisely, should have long-term benefits.”
“We have just seen a great example of this with the agreement between Oak Park and District 97, concerning the school administration building,” Phelan said. “I know there are other opportunities to work together to help save taxpayers’ money.”
The forum comes on the heels of a tentative agreement earlier this month to relocate the district’s central office to village-owned property at a former Volvo dealership at 260 Madison Street. The negotiations aimed to keep the administration building within the Madison Street TIF District.
Abu-Taleb also aimed to have the Park District of Oak Park to share space with the school district, but negotiations to share space failed, and the Park District moved forward with plans to renovate its headquarters at 218 Madison Street.
The forum is the seventh held by Abu-Taleb since taking office last year.
