On April 6, Forest Parkers will have the chance to vote for a new mayor and four commissioners on the village council.
Maria Maxham, the current commissioner of accounts and finance, has thrown her hat in the ring to run for mayor of Forest Park. And she says her first order of business would be creating a plan to start digging out of the village’s over-$15 million deficit.
“I didn’t understand how bad the financial situation was until I became commissioner,” Maxham told the Review, where she used to be the editor. “It’s always been easy to say, ‘Our finances aren’t that great,’ close the book, wait for the next budget season and do the same thing again. But I was starting to realize that every year we’re walking away from the budget process having accomplished nothing.”
Though Maxham has considered running for mayor for several months, she’s thought about it more seriously in the past two months.
“In order to fix a problem, you have to name it really clearly and publicly. So that’s what I’ve been doing, as you may have noticed,” Maxham said. During this year’s budget meetings, she was a big proponent of a places of eating tax to help increase the village’s revenue. And she has spoken in support of firefighters who share concerns about burnout and underfunded pensions.
If Maxham is elected Forest Park mayor in April, she would first work to create a concrete plan for the village’s financial recovery.
Maxham is currently working with staff to get someone to come assess the village’s finance department — “Not to see what people are doing wrong, but to say, ‘What is everyone doing? What are they working so hard on? Where are the gaps? What else do we need? What functions are we missing?’” Maxham said. “The department is understaffed, and there isn’t time to do the really deep financial analysis or to build complex plans.”
After addressing the foundation of the finance department, the plan would identify ways to increase revenue, decrease expenses, advocate for legislation that impacts local finances, and aggressively pursue economic development.
“As far as I know, we have never had that kind of plan. We’ve never talked about that kind of plan, but that’s what we need,” Maxham said. She wants the plan to have “very measurable, specific goals and timelines, and regular public updates so we are holding ourselves accountable all the time to reach this plan of financial security.”
Following the creation of a village-wide financial plan, Maxham would hope to have similar plans for individual departments. She said Fire Chief Lindsey Hankus already has a similar plan.
Another financial struggle for the village is its police and fire pensions, which are both under 40% funded and need a combined $74-to-87 million — according to Maxham at an April village council meeting.
“Both police and fire have said they’re having a hard time recruiting. And the fire union members have come out and publicly said that they’re tired, stressed, and they’re worried about their physical and mental safety. They want to do as good a job as they can, but it’s difficult when they’re so overworked,” Maxham told the Review. “And we just don’t have the money to fix the staffing issues.”
But Maxham has goals outside of the village’s financial state.
“I wouldn’t say my only priority in running for office is finances, but that is the number one thing our village needs to do above and beyond anything else. And I don’t think we can address any other major issues until we get our finances in order,” she said.
Also top of mind for Maxham is the safety of Forest Parkers, especially immigrant residents.
“I want to make sure that Village Hall feels like a place people can come without worrying that something’s going to happen to them. I don’t think anything will, but we need to do something to make sure that people understand that they’re safe,” Maxham said.
Many residents have shared concerns at council meetings after, in July, village staff let an ICE officer into the police department and helped him move his car to the parking lot behind the station after the officer told them he was being stalked by a 16-year-old who was filming him.
Maxham said she is working with residents like Betty Alzamora, who helped create a petition asking to display signs where ICE agents aren’t allowed and to update the village’s welcoming resolution.
“How do we make people feel more safe? And how do we make them more safe? That’s something right now that really needs to be dealt with, and I’m working on that,” Maxham said.
She also wants to see more collaboration between taxing bodies, like the Park District of Forest Park, School District 91 and 209, Forest Park Public Library, plus the Chamber of Commerce. And she said it’s on the village to reinforce those relationships.
“I think there’s an opportunity for more collaboration between all of those entities that will strengthen the town,” Maxham said.
Lastly, Maxham said she’s “tired of this moving at the speed of government excuse that I think we rely on too much.” She gave an example of the Altenheim property that the village has owned since 2001 and has yet to develop. “I don’t want to rush into making a decision, but I also don’t think spending decades, or even an entire term, where no progress is made is reasonable.”
Oct. 26 is the last day for mayoral candidates to file nomination papers with their candidacy statement and signed petition sheets. Nov. 2 is the last day for anyone to file objections for nomination papers, which Maxham said frequently happens, so she’s collecting more than the required 30-some signatures.
“It’s best to get at least three times what the amount is, but I also look at getting signatures as a chance to talk to people,” Maxham said. “So my goal is to go door-to-door to as many houses of registered voters as I can, just to introduce myself.”