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With three Village Board seats open in the April 4 election, incumbents Michael Manzo and Edward Tiesenga are seeking reelection. Others who will be on the ballot are Melissa Martin, Naveen Jain, John Anos and Henry (Hank) Haff.
Longtime Village Clerk Charlotte Pruss, who was first elected in 2007, is facing a challenge from Netasha Scarpiniti.
Here is what the candidates had to say:
Village Board candidates
John N. Anos
Age: 67
Family: Married to Patricia and have three children Alicia, Anne Marie, and Nicholas and seven grandchildren
How long lived in Oak Brook: Raised in Oak Brook from 1966 — 1979, married and moved back to Oak Brook in 2003 to present, total of 33 years.
Occupation: Paper Sales over 30 years
Previous / current elected offices: None
Nonelected volunteer positions held: Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church parish council and past president 1998 — 2000, Woodside Estates Homeowners, past president, appointed to the Oak Brook Sports Core Committee, 2017-present
Why are you running for office: To continue to make Oak Brook a great place to live and shop. My experience as co-chairman on the Sports Core Advisory Committee has enabled me to work with trustees, village employees and the people that live in Oak Brook. I truly enjoy working to help solve problems and to make Oak Brook an even better place to live.
What do you believe you have to offer in this position: The ability to listen to both sides of an issue and then make a decision that is good for the people in the Village of Oak Brook.
What is the biggest issue facing Oak Brook: Everyone is going to talk about safety which is important. This can only be done if your financial house is in order, the last two years working with trustees (Larry) Herman and (Michael) Manzo showed that this can be done. Other people talk about what we cannot do, we have worked to make positive changes happen for the Village of Oak Brook. Continuing the image of Oak Brook: one-third business, one-third open space and one-third residential, which was started by (Oak Brook founder) Paul Butler is key.
Henry (Hank) Haff
Age: 65
Family: Married to Diane Lis; children: Ryan (26), Alexa (23), Kaylee (21)
How long have you lived in Oak Brook: 24 Years
Occupation: Founder HJH Homes, Inc. — land developer, luxury custom homebuilder, renovations and additions, condo renovations
Previous/current elected offices: chairman of Security Committee, former chairman of Architectural Review Committee, and former President of Midwest Club Homeowners Association (17 Years). Former Board Member, Trinity Lakes Improvement Association (three years).
Nonelected volunteer positions held: Pastoral Board Member for Ascension of our Lord Church in Oakbrook Terrace, Oak Brook Little League Board of Directors and team manager; coach, AYSO Soccer, and Oak Brook Travel Baseball Coach.
Why are you running for this office: To serve the residents by helping to keep our community safe and beautiful for residents, businesses, and visitors, by serving with the highest integrity and commitment, and being proactive, not reactive with problem solving.
What do you believe you have to offer in this position: My unique real estate background and technical expertise in land development, home building/renovations, along with knowledge of commercial and retail construction, position me well to serve the community. I strongly believe the Village Board needs someone with a background such as mine to service and protect the best interest of the village. Many matters are decided each year without this expertise and once the project is approved, it’s simply too late.
I possess 25 years of experience working with most village departments, allowing me a strong understanding of village operations. I’m proactive, not reactive, fiscally responsible and believe in honest/transparent government. I understand the development mentality and can speak the same language with developers and sales professionals, and through this lens can typically identify pitfalls.
What is the No. 1 issue facing the village: resident/public safety. We are centrally located with major thoroughfares allowing residents to travel in all directions easily. Due to the issues of ingress/egress, our extraordinary shopping center and residential homes that enjoy open vistas, mature trees and nature, we are an easy target for criminal activities. The local police department does a fantastic job protecting our village; however, there are limitations. Some suggestions to protect our village: expansion of our camera systems, additional vehicle license readers, aggressive “stop stick” technology to flatten the tires of fleeing criminals, additional unmarked vehicles/undercover police patrols, car tracking technologies to arrest criminals at their final destination. And engage in educational endeavors to inform residents how to inexpensively protect their homes, cars, and belongings.
Naveen K. Jain
Age: 62
Family: Married to Rachna, a son, Akshay, and a daughter, Arushi
How long have you lived in Oak Brook: we moved to Oak Brook in 1999
Occupation: I have been a strategic consulting partner for the past 25-plus years. My expertise is in advising the CEO leadership teams and the boards of Fortune 100 companies and working with them to implement transformation programs to create shareholder value.
Previous/current elected offices: I have been elected to the Trinity Lakes Homeowners Association Board for the fourth term
Nonelected volunteer positions held: Oak Brook Police and Fire Commissioner, 2018-present; Oak Brook Plan Commission, 2014-2018
Why are you running for this office: I am running because I believe in the potential of Oak Brook. I believe we are leaving money on the table and can do a far better job leveraging our unique location, no property taxes and amazing assets to increase the value of our collective investments. I believe I can make a difference. I want to run the village as a high-performing business.
What do you believe you have to offer in this position: I understand what makes Oak Brook unique. I understand how the economics engine works. I understand how to bundle our unique assets in an experience for the current and future community members to enhance our value. I have the forward looking strategic and creative skills to bring to the board and align the board on a vision. I have deep experience in strategic problem solving and understand how to create high-performing teams by aligning and integrating different skill sets.
What is the biggest issue facing Oak Brook: The two significant issues are safety and crime, and increasing the value of our community assets. We need a holistic approach to address the issues of safety and crime, not a piecemeal approach. Safety is different than crime management. When we approve developments like Jupiter, when there is no walking/connecting paths for residents, we create a safety hazard. When we create parking congestion in areas with high traffic, we create a safety hazard.
Michael Manzo
Age: 56
Family: Married 28 years with 3 children (Michele, Rocco, Melissa)
How long have you lived in Oak Brook: 21 yrs.
Occupation: small business owner (self-employed)
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Previous/current elected offices: Proviso High School Board Member for 8 years, Oak Brook Village Board member for 12 years
Nonelected volunteer positions held: Oak Brook Community Caucus, Oak Brook Little League coach, youth football coach, youth basketball coach
Why are you running for this office: I am running for the same reason I ran 12 years ago: To protect our wonderful village. I publicly opposed any and all entities that could harm our village and its residents, including red-light cameras. I want to keep Oak Brook a great place to live, work and raise a family. I want to continue the progress we started, especially in the last two years. We have made great progress in the Sports Core, and it is no longer a financial liability. We have invested more into policing because we put our financial house in order by cleaning up the financial mess left us from the previous Village Board majority/Village Manager. Our new Village Manager, new Police Chief and new Fire Chief have vastly improved their departments. Our police department is now much more proactive, which has helped lead us to a 38% decrease in residential burglaries in Oak Brook. We are doing great things in Oak Brook and I would like to continue to participate in making Oak Brook the best village in Illinois.
What do you believe you have to offer in this position: I have tremendous amount of experience and a track record of success. Throughout the years I have been able to use my experience to better Oak Brook. I, along with the new board majority, have improved our village finances, made Oak Brook safer & more transparent, and most importantly brought our diverse community together under the umbrella of good government. My experience has given me the ability to properly analyze and vet issues and problems. One example is the red-light cameras at Route 83 and 22nd Street in Oakbrook Terrace, which I have consistently worked to have removed and remain dedicated to doing so. As part of the new Village Board majority, we have focused on bringing accountability to the budget process — we improved our budget forecast by $44 million in our major funds. We worked with our committees. In fact, by working with the Sports Core committee, we achieved the greatest financial turnaround in Sports Core history. I want to continue being part of helping to make good things happen for Oak Brook.
What is the No. 1 issue facing the village: Public Safety is the #1 issue but we must keep our financials healthy in order to continue to invest in our police department, both technology and personnel We’ve done a lot recently to improve our Police Department and need to continue on that path. We have added automated license plate readers, a mobile license plate reader/video surveillance trailer along with hand held GPS launchers to help safely track vehicles that flee. We also hired a proactive Police Chief who reinstated our K9 unit and Oak Brook Police Task Force/Response Team. We also hired additional full-time police officers and are fully staffed for the first time in over 20 years.
Melissa Martin
Age: 42
Family: Married 19 years to D. Erik Martin with 2 children, Charlie (11) and Everett (8)
How long have you lived in Oak Brook: eight years
Occupation: Associate Professor of Accounting at the University of Illinois-Chicago
Previous/current elected offices: None
Nonelected volunteer positions held: Oak Brook Sports Core Committee
Why are you running for this office: I am running for office as a means to continue to affect important change in our village. As a member of the Sports Core Committee, it has been incredibly impactful to see the ability of well-intentioned service to create such important change in the village. I want to continue to use my financial background to make fiscally responsible decisions for the village, while also being a voice for the residents — particularly those younger families. I have continually been struck by the multigenerational nature of our community and the desire to return to the village after being raised here. I want to serve the village to ensure it is the kind of place my children aspire to raise their families.
What do you believe you have to offer in this position: In my role as a university professor, I have considerable experience in understanding governance within a public institution. In addition, my background in accounting provides a solid foundation for fiscally grounded decision making. I will continue to look for ways to innovate and modernize Oak Brook through sound financially minded decisions that pay homage to the rich traditions of the village. I pair this more global knowledge with specific experience serving the village. As a six-year member of the Sports Core Committee, I gained an understanding of village operations ranging from public works, administrative staff, budgeting, and public safety. If given the opportunity to serve, I look forward to furthering my knowledge of village operations to inform my decision-making as a trustee.
What is the No. 1 issue facing the village: The number one issue facing the village is outdated infrastructure — particularly in the areas of public safety and village communications. Using public safety as an example, better utilizing technology to improve police efficiency is crucial for our continued success in working toward improved resident safety. These improvements in technology will require investments, similar to our investment in license plate readers throughout the village, that will pay off in enhanced efficiency of our police force. The village has already made strides in this avenue funded by the improvements in financial efficiency over the past two years. We need to continue to work with our proactive and innovative Police Chief to leverage technology to allow the village to efficiently and effectively target resident public safety as a top priority.
Edward N. Tiesenga
Age: 63
Family: Married to Elizabeth, with two daughters and two grandsons.
How long have you lived in Oak Brook: My family moved here in 1978 while I was attending Hope College in Holland, MI. After law school and marriage, I moved to Hinsdale and then to Elmhurst, and after my daughters moved away, relocated to the Oak Brook Club in 2010.
Occupation: Commercial attorney representing 250 mainly family-based and professional service, manufacturing and distribution businesses with our law firm based in Oak Brook for 23 years.
Previous/current elected offices: Village Board member, 2015-present
Nonelected volunteer positions held: Oak Brook Club Security Committee (Chairman, 2014—2015), DuPage County Bar Association (Chair, Business Law and Practice Committee (1986); Chair, Local Government Law Section (2022-2023); Chair, Law in Literature Committee (2020-2023), Lombard Christian Reformed Church (Member and Past Elder), Read Asia (Board Member and Treasurer, 2013-2015), Rest Haven Christian Services (Board Member, Executive Committee, 1997-2000), Sea Club III Homeowner Association, Longboat Key, Florida (Board Member, 2014 — Present), Northeast Long Lake Economic Forum (Co-Founder, President and Board Member), Northern Lights Snowmobile Club, Three Lakes, WI (Member)
Midwest Chapter Model T Ford Club International, Westmont, (Member, Organizer of annual Oak Brook Polo Model T Day), Timothy Christian High School Mock Trial Attorney Coach (1990-2000) (Illinois State Champions and 4th Place U.S. National Competition, Albuquerque, NM)
Why are you running for this office: I am running at the request of my neighbors and fellow residents of Oak Brook who asked me to run in 2015, and who have continued to request that I do so. I trust their judgment, and will agree to continue our engagement together if they will please let me know by April 4.
What do you believe you have to offer in this position: Deep experience and actionable insights to diagnose problems and forge consensus for policy solutions. In other words, to put “truth into action.” And to do so with an understanding of Oak Brook’s unique history, current demographics and position in our local, regional and international network of relationships. We continue to require a singular commitment to the vision and high standards that have brought us this far, while surrounded by counterexamples that continue to reinforce the need to stand apart from many other alternative ways of operating our instance of self-government.
What is the No. 1 issue facing the village: The culture of lawlessness spreading into Oak Brook and DuPage County. Chicago and Cook County have given up on crime, which they incredibly blame on the police. At the same time, new laws from Springfield reduce the cost of crime by eliminating bail and making it harder to arrest criminals. The result is more crime everywhere, with 60 organized Chicago-based gangs with 100,000 members split into crews burglarizing our homes, hitting our mall and retail areas, carjacking our residents, and robbing people in parking lots. To combat this, I support proactive and aggressive “stop stick” technology to flatten the tires of fleeing criminals, and our new Police Chief’s undercover saturation patrols using unmarked cars, helicopters and more officers to surround and stop fleeing criminals who used to just fade away onto the highways. At Village President Gopal Lalmalani’s request, I chaired the police chief recruitment committee and worked with our HOA presidents and fellow Trustees to develop consensus to promote Brian Strockis from within our department to be our new Police Chief. On defense, I also support assisting any of our HOAs interested in adding gates and guardhouses, and am working with village staff to correct a prior erroneous pricing model that distorted HOA decision making by overpricing dedicated streets to be privatized into gated communities.
Village Clerk candidates
Charlotte Pruss
Family: Married to Stanley and a son, Frank
How long have you lived in Oak Brook: since1992
Occupation: Registered dietician
Previous/current elected offices: Village Clerk since 2007
Nonelected volunteer positions held: none
Why are you running for this office: I am running for the fourth term because I like the clerk’s office duties and the residents I meet and help when they have questions.
What do you believe you have to offer in this position: 12 years of experience doing the job
What is the No. 1 issue facing the village: A budget; so far we are staying within our budget
Netasha Scarpiniti
– Original Credit: Netasha Scarpiniti
Family: Married to Frank Scarpiniti for 27 years; children, Anthony and Giana
How long have you lived in Oak Brook: Over 40 years: September 1978 — July 1995 & November 1998 to present
Occupation: Realtor with @properties
Previous/current elected offices: none
Nonelected volunteer positions held: Village of Oak Brook Plan Commission; Village of Oak Brook Civic Association; Treasurer Hinsdale Central Music Parents Association; Treasurer Hinsdale Central Advance the Arts; Hinsdale Central Poms & Orchestra Video Team Leader; United Airlines Accident Response Team; United Airlines Take Your Community to Work Day; United Airlines Audit Department United Way Liaison
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Why are you running for this office: I have lived in the Village of Oak Brook for the majority of my life. I love being a resident in Oak Brook and I am hoping that my children will decide to raise their families in Oak Brook. I want to positively contribute to the Village of Oak Brook for the people who live here now and to make the Village better for future generations of residents.
What do you believe you have to offer in this position: I am a Certified Public Accountant, I passed the Certified Internal Auditor exam and I am analytical. I have a background in evaluating processes and making recommendations to make processes efficient and more effective. Technology is evolving and I would like to ensure that the Village Clerk’s office has the appropriate technology and processes to serve the Village of Oak Brook and our residents.
What is the No. 1 issue facing the village: The challenges that residents are concerned about are crime, safety and maintaining the values of their homes. I have noticed that there is quite a bit of misinformation in the community that is not coming from the village.