Ethical complaint sparks more Winnetka Park Board drama

Over the past several years, the Winnetka Park Board has faced significant internal turmoil, and tense disagreements between commissioners have regularly taken over public meetings.

Tensions between commissioners were again on display Thursday as the board planned to discuss ethics regarding incumbent board members running for office.

Instead, much of the 40 minutes the board reserved for the discussion centered on an allegation that Commissioner Colleen Root revealed privileged information — an allegation that Root denied.

The board’s regular meeting on April 24 was one of the final meetings of the current composition of the board — two new commissioners will be sworn in at the May board meeting, while Root will be sworn in for her second term — and was held almost a year to the day from when the board censured Root via a 5-2 vote.

The allegation

The agenda item on ethics was spearheaded by Commissioner Warren James, an expiring board member and a regular critic of Root.

Prompting the discussions was a flier posted at Centennial Park Beach during the recent Park Board election campaign. The flier, which appeared in the board packet, claimed that the Park Board was going to close the park’s dog beach, and encouraged residents to attend the March 20 Park Board meeting to voice their opposition.

James also shared an email sent by Root to her supporters, reportedly from her personal email account, on March 16 where she wrote, in bold letters, “Centennial Dog Beach is once again in jeopardy” and said commissioners “may prefer” to close the dog beach.

He denied that the Park Board ever seriously considered closing the dog beach.

“I honestly had no idea where this was coming from until I dug into the board packet,” James said.

In the preliminary packet, which James said is distributed to commissioners the Friday before the regular board meeting, a memo from Park District Executive Director Shannon Nazzal lists the dog beach’s removal as a potential discussion topic. That item was not listed in the final agenda, which is made public at least 48 hours before the board meeting.

Copies of both memos are in the April 24 board packet.

Claiming that the preliminary agenda is confidential, James accused Root of violating the park district’s code of ethics by releasing that information.

“This was non-public information that was used to incite action in advance of an election,” James said. “That’s what the purpose of this discussion is. We’re not here to censure Commissioner Root. We’re here to have a conversation about the boundaries that we, as board members, should respect and not unnecessarily antagonize our neighbors.”

Root denies ethics violations, criticizes commissioners

Root said that nothing she wrote in her email to supporters was confidential, adding that everything she and her runningmates — Mary Garrison and Steve Juliusson — offered “was in the public record.”

Later in the meeting, Root criticized the Park Board’s current meeting schedule, which is only one regular meeting per month after the board’s majority voted to eliminate the monthly Committee of the Whole meeting in late 2024.

“When I saw the preliminary packet … and I saw that we were even contemplating the possible closure of the dog beach, when I realized what that meant to so many people in this community, I thought that we, as commissioners, have an obligation for adequate public notice to our community,” she said, “particularly … when the changes to access or use or function of a public amenity are under consideration.”

Root said 48 hours — the minimum notice time under state law — is not enough time to inform the public of the board’s discussion topics.

“It’s emotion, it’s disgust, and if you blink and you’re out in the community, you miss it,” she said. “To me, this is not adequate public notice, and I hope that, with this new board, we will consider a return to having a committee of the whole process where we can talk about major changes to amenities, major policy moves, and then move forward in a period of two weeks or so to take the matter to a vote.”

Root also used her comments to criticize both Park Board President Christina Codo and James, who preceded Codo as the board president. Among her allegations, Root said that Codo “sabotaged” her both during the recent election campaign and a year ago during the censure vote.

Codo did not respond to the allegations but called for an apology from Root for the alleged ethics violation.

“I expect more,” Codo said to Root. “You’ve been on this board for four years. I expect accuracy, I expect note-taking, I expect verifying facts before they’re printed with your name.”

Root responded to the apology requests by saying, “I will apologize to this board if you felt that I had violated confidentiality. That was not my intent at all. My intent was that this is an amenity that is so important to so many people, and I wanted them to be aware that there could possibly be changes.”

‘Some personal reflection’

While most of the commissioners offered similar criticisms of Root, Commissioner Cynthia Rapp, her frequent ally, instead took a conciliatory tone in her comments, calling for harmony as a new board is prepared to be seated.

“It is now our mandate to come together to work for the benefit of the community in as harmonious a fashion as possible,” she said. “That’s the important thing.”

Rapp said that she’s observed all commissioners, herself included, occasionally taking part in “things that, in light of further learning and education … were not fully in line with best practice in running for office or executing the duty as a commissioner.

“I will not enumerate further, as I don’t believe it is constructive, but I think each of us would benefit from some personal reflection,” she said.

Rapp went on to say, “I certainly don’t condone the release of draft board packets or information contained therein,” but added that, in the instance being discussed, she didn’t believe the potential closure of the dog park was confidential information.

Rapp finished her comments on a hopeful note:

“I hope that this board can deliver the very best for all Winnetka Park District residents, and I’m moving forward with hope and optimism toward that goal, and certainly hope others are on that same trajectory.”

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