A new newsletter has been delivered to all Oak Brook households, courtesy of Village Board member Larry Herman.
Elected to the board in 2021, Herman has formed a political action committee, Advancing Oak Brook, and wrote a 12-page newsletter that was delivered the week of Aug. 1.
Herman said the new political action committee was formed to preserve Oak Brook’s unique quality of life, maintain fiscal stability with high-quality municipal services, encourage responsible economic growth and educate the public on issues confronting the village.
He made a personal loan of $5,000 to Advancing Oak Brook, of which he currently is the only member.
Herman said he first considered forming Advancing Oak Brook as a tax-exempt entity, similar to the Oak Brook Civic Association and the Greater Oak Brook Chamber of Commerce.
“But I didn’t want to incur the risk that those two organizations may have brought upon themselves with political activity possibly exceeding permitted tax and election law guidelines,” he said. “I want the liberty to pat ourselves on the back.”
That is why Herman formed Advancing Oak Brook as a political action committee filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections, he said.
“I have initially funded Advancing Oak Brook, but would be happy to work with like-minded residents who have an interest in advancing Oak Brook,” he said, adding that additional issues of the newsletter are “quite possible.”
Herman said he believes the current Village Board has made remarkable progress in a little more than a year and wants to get the word out about that.
More Top Picks Best Baby Travel Systems
“The financial turnaround is particularly astonishing,” he said. “And yet, I don’t think most of our residents are aware of the improvements. The purpose of this newsletter is to ensure that this good news gets to as many of our residents as possible.”
Herman said he believes the newsletter was necessary, despite the existence of a quarterly newsletter from the village and another from the Oak Brook Civic Association.
“I feel there was a void, even with two different newsletters,” Herman said. “The Civic Association newsletter is an attempt to report blow-by-blow action of meetings, and it’s too granular.” He said the village needs to do a better job of communicating with residents than a quarterly newsletter filled with reports from various department heads.
“I want to take issues, one by one, on a digestible level,” Herman said.
Coverage topics in the first Advancing Oak Brook newsletter include:
A look at the fire department’s outstanding performance metrics
A dive into the financial turnaround in the 2022 village budget
Understanding why “Home-Rule” status isn’t as good as it sounds
Pension math matters
Identifying and collecting missing sales tax revenue
Keeping the community safe with a new business registry
Vigorously attacking crime in the community
Taking the red-light cameras down
Maintaining a zero municipal property tax levy in Oak Brook
Herman said the newsletter is factual and positive, and doesn’t attack anyone.
“We’re heading into village elections next April, where three trustee positions, the Village President and Village Clerk’s roles will all be on the ballot,” he said. “It’s imperative that our residents understand the issues and recent successes as they go to vote. Electing Village officials committed to advancing Oak Brook in sync with the values driving today’s progress is critical.”
Village President Gopal Lalmalani said he was not aware of the new political action committee, but has seen the newsletter.
“Very nice newsletter,” he said. “He has the facts all laid out for our residents to read and digest.”
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.