Seaman rejoins Winnetka Park Board

Winnetka Park Board commissioners have turned to a familiar face to fill a vacant seat on their board.

Former Park Commissioner David Seaman will be returning to the board after commissioners unanimously voted on Thursday, Jan. 16, for him to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of James Hemmings.

Seaman, who has yet to be sworn in, will rejoin the board less than two years after he declined to run in the 2023 Park Board election.

This will be the second time Seaman joined the board via appointment. According to previous Park Board minutes, Seaman was initially selected to join the board in June 2020 to fill the vacancy left by John Peterson, who resigned after he was hired as the park district’s executive director.

Hemmings, who was elected to the Park Board in 2023, resigned just 18 months into his term. His resignation came two days after the Winnetka Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously gave a negative recommendation to the park district’s plans to refurbish Centennial Park and Beach.

In his resignation letter, Hemmings, who was the board’s vice president at the time, criticized the zoning board and the Village for their comments and ordinances, which he said are making the park district’s work more difficult.

Seaman will serve until the end of Hemmings’ four-year term, which expires in May 2027.

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