Gail’s Campaign Launch
Opening the Door to Democracy in Skokie
Gail for Skokie Campaign is Launched!
Converging as a broad-based, energetic and positive people's campaign, over 65 people filled a room at the Oakton Community Center on September 11th to celebrate Gail Schechter’s run for At-Large Trustee. It was an evening full of hope and excitement for a future in which Skokie has an elected Village Board that treats its people (all its people) with deep respect.
Skokie Trustee James Johnson, who is also running in the April 2025 election for Village Clerk, conceived of the three referendums that, through the grassroots campaign co-founded and chaired by Gail in 2022 galvanizing scores of volunteers and thousands of voters hungering for change, effectively end a decades’ long single-party monopoly of Skokie government. James’s very warm and supportive comments were followed by Lissa Levy and Nathan Norman, candidates for the new Districts 3 and 2 respectively.
“These are candidates who have demonstrated that when we listen and learn from each other we can ignite our imagination, and build on a vision of a vibrant, healthy community where we can all thrive and flourish,” as Charlie Saxe said in the evening’s closing comments.
Alejandra Garcia recalled working with Gail to bring about a mentoring program for new immigrant parents in Skokie elementary schools and a few years later, to help her and neighbors on her block to stop a proposed privatization of their local park.
Attendees shared visions for Skokie on post-it notes that form an ever-enlarging composite for a brighter future in Skokie. They also had a chance to sign petitions for Gail and other independent candidates to get on the ballot, and to mingle.
“I believe I would be good for you and good for Skokie as your elected Trustee because I have a lifetime of unwavering commitment to people who struggle to meet their basic needs or to have their rights respected – to have a seat at what should be a communal table.
“We are what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would call a Beloved Community not because of Village government, but because of how we relate to one another. We have a multicultural population because of Skokie’s proximity to Chicago, a transportation network, diverse types of housing for (until recently) most incomes, varied industry and a commercial base, and excellent schools. We need Village government to ensure that we marshal all of these resources not around enclaves of exclusivity but around a vision, which I espouse, of an interconnected community.”
We closed by posing for a big group photo: a Beloved Skokie Community.
We thank everyone who came out and are humbled by your support. And we invite any Skokian to volunteer. No matter who you are or how old you are, we are happy for whatever you can do to further Gail’s campaign – which is really a campaign for us and the kind of Skokie we wish to be.