Commissioners opt for fresh faces to lead Wilmette Park Board

A divided group of commissioners on Monday ushered in the next era of leadership for the Wilmette Park District’s governing body.

Park commissioners via a split 5-2 vote elected Patrick Lahey as the next president of the Wilmette Park Board during their May 12 meeting. Elected in 2023 and in the middle of his first term, Lahey is the shortest-tenured member of the Park Board.

Lahey’s election as the next leader of the Park Board came moments after commissioners voted against a motion to appoint Patrick Duffy as the next president. Duffy served as the board’s vice president for the past year.

Longstanding Commissioner Mike Murdock nominated and motioned in support of Duffy as president, but the measure failed by the same 5-2 margin — Murdock and Duffy in support with Commissioners Cecilia Clarke, Allison Frazier, Julia Goebel, Lahey and now-previous Board President Kara Kosloskus in opposition. The same five commissioners voted in support of Lahey as president.

In making a case for Duffy as president, Murdock cited the previous vice president’s experience running public meetings in his role on the Park Board and previously with Wilmette’s Zoning Board of Appeals, as well as his experience working with the Village.

Kosloskus thanked Duffy for his partnership in leading the board over the past two years but noted during a brief comment that she believes it’s OK for the board to have differences in opinions.

“Something that is important for all of us to remember is that as we make decisions as a board, we lay aside our personal agendas and we will discuss and debate topics and we might not always come to an agreement on a topic and that’s to be expected,” she said.

“We are better by having disagreements and by having discussion to bring us to conclusions. But once that decision has been made by a majority of the board, it is our board members’ duty to get behind that decision and advance the future of the district.”

Kosloskus concluded her remarks, which immediately prefaced the board’s vote, by stressing the importance of advancing the board’s work even if commissioners don’t share the same viewpoints on a topic.

“We are allowed to have differences and we can still work together very well with differences and once decisions have been voted on, we advance,” she said.

Following the vote for president, park commissioners then once again rejected a motion to appoint Duffy to a leadership position on the board. Commissioners voted 5-2 against Murdock’s nomination to re-appoint Duffy to the vice president’s chair.

Notably, every sitting member of the Park Board voted twice in prior years to elect Duffy as vice president.

The board then subsequently confirmed a nomination of Frazier — which came from Murdock and was seconded by Lahey — via a 6-1 vote with Duffy in dissent.

Prior to the vote, Murdock said that he didn’t remember a time where a sitting vice president “wasn’t given the opportunity to serve” as a board executive. But also worth noting, in 2021, Murdock was elected Park Board president (4-3 vote) over then-Vice President Goebel, who was then reelected as vice president.

Murdock also won the president’s seat via split vote in 2022. Kosloskus sided with Murdock in both 2021 and 2022. She was unanimously elected board president in 2023 and 2024.

Goebel, during a short comment in support of Frazier, said she feels the recently reelected Frazier is a strong fit for the role of vice president.

“I feel that Allison will represent us well as vice president, and in addition, she received the most votes in the public election that we most recently had,” Goebel said. “She also has five children who participate in activities all the time and I think she’ll be an excellent representative.”

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