The Village of Forest Park has a new executive assistant for the mayor’s office. In March, Megan Roach filled a position that has been vacant since Rachell Entler was appointed village administrator in January.
Roach is now assistant to Mayor Rory Hoskins and Entler. This role includes creating press releases, writing newsletters and keeping their schedules. In this position, Roach hopes to convey the goings-on in Forest Park to locals.
In a May newsletter, for example, Roach included an image and short story about the fire department rescuing a family of baby ducks from a storm drain.
“I don’t think that’s something you get in a larger government agency,” Roach said. “You can’t really be calling saying there’s a bird or duck stuck.”
Forest Park’s small-town accessibility is just one of the reasons that the Roaches moved back from Chicago after living here for 15 years. They also missed their friends and siblings who live in Forest Park.
“I think what I missed the most is running into people you know,” Roach said, whereas she felt more anonymous living in Chicago. “I feel a lot less isolated now that we’re back.”
“Our people are back here,” Roach added. “Our life is in Forest Park.”
Moving home
Roach grew up in Chicago. She and her husband, Paul Roach, moved to Forest Park in 2005 to raise their three daughters.
In 2022, Paul, a veteran of the Afghanistan War, got a job at Lovell Federal Health Care Center, a Veterans Affairs hospital in North Chicago. So, the Roaches sold their Forest Park home and started renting in Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood, near a Metra stop and where one of their daughters lives.
But “it didn’t feel like a small, close-knit community,” Roach said. “We found ourselves driving back here to do stuff,” she said about the village.
So, in January, the Roaches moved back to Forest Park after Paul got a job at Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Administration Hospital. Megan, who worked at Todd & Holland Tea Merchants when the Roaches first lived in Forest Park, came across a job opening from the village.
“When I heard that they needed help, I felt like I would be a good candidate, given my experience knowing the village,” Roach said.
Roach knew many of the commissioners from her time in town. She said she was a girl scout leader with Maria Maxham, the commissioner of accounts and finance. The Roaches went to church with Entler at St. Bernadine. And their daughters played soccer with Hoskins’ children, she added.
Besides the people, Roach said she and Paul missed the attentiveness from Forest Park’s public works department. In Chicago, Roach said, no one plowed their alley when it snowed. And leaf pickup was easier in Forest Park, where residents put out yard waste for free between April and November. In Chicago, residents have to call 311 to request free yard waste collection.
“There were a lot of things that I missed about a smaller government,” Roach said. “And now that I’m working there, I see what it takes.”
“Look at all these people brainstorming how to make our village better and more efficient,” Roach added. “I just enjoyed living here [before], not really realizing how much was going on at Village Hall.”
Now that she’s a part of Village Hall, Roach said she has plans for what she hopes to contribute to Forest Park.
“What I’d like to bring to the community is a positive image of Village Hall,” Roach said. “Sometimes, I don’t think residents are aware how much everyone there is doing.”
Roach said she sees Hoskins, Entler and the commissioners regularly networking and driving to Springfield, Illinois to lobby for more money for Forest Park.
“I feel super fortunate to be back in Forest Park and to be working at the village,” Roach said.
