South Cook News

Palos Park mayoral candidate Ronette McCarthy has been plugging away on the campaign trail with an eye on restoring decorum to the chambers of the Village of Palos Park Commission.

McCarthy is an attorney with decades of experience in municipal law. She is running alone against a slate of six entrenched politicians.

“I've been asked for three election cycles, so it started eight years ago that I was asked to run for mayor by a group of concerned residents and taxpayers of our town who have felt for quite some time that their voices just weren't being heard,” McCarthy told South Cook News.

“Our village council, including the mayor, you know, our career kind of politicians, have been in for a long time," she said. "My opponent will soon hit almost a quarter of a century in our village governance and the residents feel from asking for permits to asking for help in regards to their own property, to even residents who've gone and suggested ideas or available grants from departments they may work with professionally, from the state, just that their voices really aren't listened to and kind of appreciated.

“Moreover, we live in a wonderful community. Palos Park is really lucky to have such an amazing physical environment that we're surrounded by, we call it a park setting, to the residents who live within it. And so we don't have a host of issues where residents kind of come to the planned meetings or board meetings and speak their minds. But when they do over the years you hear things – and I've definitely heard it more since canvasing and being out on the street – talking to the residents that while they go and maybe voice their opinions and such, they don't feel like anyone's really taking them into consideration, that the board already has their mind made up before residents say much. There’s been other times, other board meetings where commissioners have kind of looked just disinterested in what the residents were saying.”

McCarthy was told to “shut the hell up” after challenging the behavior of Palos Park Commissioner G. Darryl Reed, who made faces at her and other derisive remarks during the commission’s Feb. 27 meeting. After McCarthy brought up the behavior, Reed played the race card.

“When a black man makes a facial expression and someone has the audacity in a public forum to ask him to explain himself," Reed told McCarthy. "No, no, it ain't that. It ain't that kind of party, people. It's not. And the children are still talking out of turn. When you don't have anything important to say, then you make noise."

Reed, who has a terminal illness, said he is only running to support McCarthy’s opponent in the race after Nicole Milovich-Walters announced her run for mayor.

“Nicole asked for help and here I am,” Reed said.

McCarthy said the exchange with Reed at the Feb. 27 meeting is just one of many residents have had to endure.

“My belief is that proper decorum needs to be had at all times," McCarthy told South Cook News. "It's up to the city mayor to bring it back into the courtroom. If it's not, that board meeting lacks decorum by the board members, either by the ones that were vocal – that you heard – or the ones that chose to sit silent and say nothing.”

Noting the rancor and discord, McCarthy was endorsed by Nicholas Baker, a 2019 Palos Park mayoral candidate.

“We need leaders who are compassionate, approachable and always willing to hear from residents,” Baker said in his endorsement. 

“Unfortunately, not all of Palos Park’s current leaders share Ronette’s commitment to listening to residents. At the most recent village board meeting, Commissioner G. Darryl Reed, running on the Palos Park First slate, told residents expressing concerns to 'shut the hell up.' Obviously, this kind of behavior is unacceptable and has no place in Village Hall.”

McCarthy’s website notes her background in municipal law.

“Municipal Attorney represented all facets of government from Villages, Municipalities, School Districts, Recreation Departments, Park Districts, Fire Protection Districts, Police Departments, and Townships,” her website reads.

“Municipal Attorney advised, counseled, and guided Mayors, Commissioners, Recreation Directors, Police & Fire Employees, and all those responsible for municipal governance.”

She has worked as a school teacher and reading coach.

McCarthy is active in the community as a member of the board of directors of the Palos Park Women’s Club, the creator of Palos Park Neighbors, coordinator of Palos Park Neighborhood meet and greets, and as a board member of the McCord Gallery & Cultural Center. She also served on the Fence Committee for the Village of Palos Park.

McCarthy was born and raised in Sterling, Illinois, and lives in Palos Park with her husband of 22 years and their two children.

“We as a family made the decision that I would graciously accept the resident request for me to run for mayor, and I just asked for all of our Palos Park residents to get out and vote on Tuesday if they haven't already, and thanked them greatly for having the confidence in me,” McCarthy told South Cook News. “And it will definitely be a privilege to serve them.”