‘THE CHANGINGAGING TOUR’
is coming to Oak Park, October 10. Special section on Page 27
JOURNAL W E D N E S D A Y
WATC H I N G ‘A M E R I C A T O M E ’ E P I S O D E VI, PAGE 11
of Oak Park and River Forest
October 3, 2018 Vol. 39, No. 11 ONE DOLLAR @oakpark @wednesdayjournal
Funeral task force gears up to quell the violence
Skating away Daniel Martinez, a freshman at Concordia University from Cicero, balances on a quarter pipe on Oct. 1, at the Stevenson Park Skate Park on Lake Street in Oak Park.
Melee on Jackson Boulevard has residents concerned By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter
On a Saturday afternoon in early September, Oak Park resident Michael O’Malley was in the back of his home in the 800 block of Wisconsin Avenue, when he heard arguing coming from the street outside. O’Malley, who has lived at the corner of Wisconsin and Jackson Boulevard for the last 13 years, ran to the front of the house with his video camera at the ready. He suspected it might be another funeral procession — the kind that could get someone killed. Peeking through the blinds of his living room, O’Malley recorded a group of about 30 people who had exited their vehicles and were yelling at one another. Suddenly the fraSee FUNERALS on page 16
ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
Tax task force: No referenda until 2030 Also pushes independent citizen financial oversight panel
By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter
The Village of Oak Park’s Taxing Bodies Efficiency Task Force presented a wide range of recommendations to the Oak Park Board of Trustees at the Oct. 1 board meeting, including a moratorium on tax hike referendums until 2030, containing all
property tax hikes to CPI and creation of a citizen-led financial oversight commission that would monitor and advise all taxing bodies while also educating residents on municipal finance issues. David Pope, chairman of the taskforce and former village president, presented the report to trustees, noting that rapidly rising property taxes, which have substantial-
ly outpaced both the rate of inflation and the growth in household income, are forcing residents out of the village. “It poses risks to both current Oak Park residents and to the long-term viability of Oak Park’s core values of diversity, affordability and integration,” the report notes. See TAXES on page 13