A look into a complaint against a Winnetka parks commissioner and the investigation that followed

The findings from a months-long investigation into an elected official’s alleged behavior have become the focus of the Winnetka Park Board’s recent public sessions, as commissioners and the public continue to discuss the fallout from a harassment complaint filed by the district’s top employee.

Shannon Nazzal, executive director of the Winnetka Park District, on Sept. 25, 2025 brought forth a formal complaint against Colleen Root alleging that the parks commissioner “engaged in a pattern of conduct that’s been inconsistent with the board’s code of ethics, district policies and Nazzal’s employment agreement.”

According to the official findings and conclusions of the investigation, a 12-page document that The Record obtained via a public-records request, Nazzal alleged in her complaint that Root, among other things, “made several unfounded accusations against her” and created a “hostile work environment and has interfered with Nazzal’s ability to perform her role.”

The investigation, executed by Michelle Marks of Marks Employment Law, concluded that “Root’s conduct has been inconsistent with portions of the policy and code,” but that Nazzal was not subject to a “hostile work environment under the policy” and her park district employment agreement was not violated.

Winnetka park commissioners voted during their Dec. 18 meeting to “release” the findings from Marks’ investigation, which cost the district nearly $40,000, according to public documents.

As part of the investigation, Marks’ team interviewed three park commissioners — former Board President Christina Codo, Cynthia Rapp and now Board President Elise Gibson — and one park district staffer whose name was redacted from the final report.

Additionally, the investigation leaned on 15 documents and pieces of footage dating back to 2024 to reach its end result.

While the findings did not confirm Nazzal’s most serious allegations, park commissioners during Park Board sessions on Dec. 18 and Jan. 22 expressed support for the investigation and Nazzal, while condemning Root’s behavior that was detailed in the findings. And one commissioner, Codo, on Jan. 22 called for disciplinary action against Root.

Root called the investigation unnecessary and said she was “not treated with respect, not treated fairly” during the process. She said the findings report contained “selective” material and she pushed the board to release more documents — a request that was denied via board vote.

Multiple residents during recent Park Board’s public meetings have defended Root and criticized the investigation’s purpose.

“When a matter reaches this level of expense, without a substantiated outcome, it raises legitimate questions about intake, scope, control and managerial oversight,” resident Kim Marsh said on Jan. 22.

Nazzal’s allegations

Across more than six pages of the investigation report, Marks highlights key pieces of Nazzal’s complaint, including her assertions that Root has “made several ungrounded accusations toward her.”

Root, according to the investigation, allegedly accused Nazzal of intentionally restricting the commissioner’s email, disregarding Park Board input, failing to carry out the board’s lawful direction and lacking transparency when communicating with the board.

Nazzal also in her complaint argued that Root “has been disrespectful toward her and her staff and has unfairly framed differences in perspective as a failure of Nazzal’s performance.” The investigation also outlines a series of alleged behaviors classified as “disrespectful conduct.”

One example listed in the report is when Root “insisted” Nazzal attend a Park Board meeting when Nazzal was on vacation, which she communicated with Gibson ahead of time. Nazzal attended the session virtually, which Marks describes as unnecessary and a “great personal inconvenience” for Nazzal.

In another alleged incident, Nazzal says that Root, during a Sept. 25 meeting that preceded the Park Board’s regular session, suggested that childcare programming the district was considering could be a “violation of electioneering laws” and later reportedly remarked that it could be a felony. This, according to Marks’ report, made Nazzal “very uncomfortable.”

Nazzal told Marks that soon after the Sept. 25 meeting, which was the same day she filed her complaint, she received multiple letters — some allegedly from “known … supporters of Root” — questioning the legality of the programming. One message reportedly threatened a complaint against Nazzal.

In her findings, Marks says that Root originally denied speaking with Nazzal about the childcare issue in the preboard meeting session but later clarified in a follow-up letter that she called “simply asking Nazzal whether childcare was going to be provided at a particular event.”

According to the report, Root also denied saying the program may be a felony. Marks, however, notes that board meeting footage contradicts Root’s claim. That exchange, Marks said, led her to “not find Root to be entirely credible on this point.”

A significant portion of the report’s disrespectful-conduct section details an alleged interaction between Root and a Winnetka Park District staffer, which allegedly resulted in the staffer and a vendor being “accosted” in the parking lot of Centennial Park.

Marks found a staffer’s report of a 2025 incident in which a woman approached them and spoke in a “mean and negative manner” about trees at Centennial. The staff member reportedly said they had “never felt so intimidated in their 17 years with the district” and were “positive” it was Root whom they encountered.

Root’s responses to questions on the interaction were “not entirely credible or forthcoming,” Marks said. Root recalled the general incident, but “denied her own involvement and withheld certain pieces or relevant information until repeatedly pressed,” the report says.

Marks added that the scope of her investigation did not include Root’s behavior with anyone other than Nazzal; however, she noted that she found this incident to support Nazzal’s allegation that Root’s conduct has created discomfort among park staff and it “calls into question Root’s overall credibility.”

‘My voice on this board has been silenced’

Root commented on the findings of the investigation during the Park Board’s Dec. 18 and Jan. 22 meetings. She said Dec. 18 that despite residents re-electing her to the board she’s “been treated as an outsider” since Sept. 26 when she first received the harassment complaint.

While saying that she “cooperated fully” with the investigation, Root also argued that Marks’ findings were “selective” and reflected only her narrative. She urged the board to support a motion to release Nazzal’s original complaint and the transcripts of her two recorded interviews, which she said lasted for more than two hours.

The Park Board voted against a motion to release more documents, including, per Root’s request, Marks’ notes and work papers related to the investigation.

Root said that despite the investigation’s conclusion that she did “not do the terrible things that I was alleged to have done,” her “voice on (the Park Board) has been silenced.”

“Questions aimed at transparency and good government that I delivered in emails to the complainant, have been mischaracterized as accusations and policy violations,” she said. “That should concern every resident in this community because oversight and dissent are not misconduct, they’re essential democratic functions of an elected board.”

The two-term parks commissioner focused a majority of her comments Dec. 18 on an Oct. 9 Park Board meeting, when she was denied access to a closed session.

The Park Board on Oct. 9 held a special meeting with a closed session to discuss Nazzal’s Sept. 25 complaint. The board told Root she could not participate, reportedly following the advice of park district counsel.

According to a recording of the meeting, Root refuses to leave the meeting leading to a tense exchange between her and Commissioners Codo, Gibson and David Seaman. At one point, Root invites board members to “call the Winnetka police and remove her.”

In her Dec. 18 remarks, Root said that had she been allowed to participate in the Oct. 9 session, she would have urged the board to “slow down, to de-escalate and talk this over.”

“The decision (to launch the investigation) was premature and it was unnecessary,” she said, adding that board policy states that disagreements should first be assessed between parties before a complaint is filed.

Root also said that she was first denied access to the full recording of the closed session on Oct. 9, adding that she only gained access after she contacted the Illinois Office of the Attorney General.

Near the end of her remarks, Root stated that she felt as though she was a “defendant presumed to have done something wrong” throughout the investigation. She added that she was “not treated with respect, not treated fairly,” that the process “became an investigation far beyond the breadth of the complainant” and that the investigator was biased in her findings.

Most recently, on Jan 22, Root again criticized the investigation but hoped to start fresh.

“Let’s put this behind us, let’s move on and make 2026 a wonderfully productive as well as collaborative year,” she said.

‘You alone are responsible for your own actions’

Board members during the Dec. 18 session followed Root’s remarks by sharing their opinions on the findings and the investigation and expressing little support for Root’s statements.

Commissioner Seaman first commented on the severity of such a complaint while expressing his belief that the board handled it correctly.

“When we receive a harassment claim, that’s a very serious issue,” he said. “And this board acted in the proper manner, hiring an independent lawyer, well regarded in this area and I would say the report speaks for itself.”

Seaman concluded by saying he fully supports Nazzal and that he believes she does a “great job as executive director”

Christina Codo, the board’s former president, said to Root Dec. 18: “You alone are responsible for your actions” before adding, “I do not think this is your finest moment.”

Codo went a step further on Jan. 22, saying that there should be a “consequence” as a result of the findings.

“In order to protect this agency and the people who work here from future complaints and future liability, I believe there needs to be some type of consequence,” she said. “I don’t know what that is, but I think that is something that we need to consider, because if it happens again and there are damages attached, we will be remiss in our duty to protect this agency.”

Four residents also spoke on Jan. 22. Supporting Root, three of them questioned the necessity of the investigation, and Joanna Karatzas said the board “has done its best to single out Commissioner Root and make her term difficult.

Former Board President Warren James, who rolled off the board in 2025, also visited the Jan. 22 meeting and read a statement slamming Root. James and Root were regular combatants in recent years, often engaging in fiery exchanges during public meetings.

James was a driver of a censure of Root, which the board approved 5-2 in April 2024 and which contained 21 allegations of code-of-ethics violations.

On Jan. 22, James said Nazzal’s complaint came as no surprise to him after “witnessing countless acts of hostility” in the four years he and Root served together.

Nazzal briefly addressed the investigation on Dec. 18, saying “that she appreciated the board’s handling of the matter.”

“I know it’s not easy or a comfortable process and I also want to just assure the board that my focus remains on supporting our team and continuing the work that we do for the community,” she added.

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