Development Council Elects Board Members

The McKinley Park Development Council announced the new roster for its board of directors following their election in mid-November. Five new board members from the McKinley Park neighborhood have joined seven currently serving members to lead the neighborhood non-profit organization.

"This year's selection was a highly diverse group of extremely qualified candidates, and the neighborhood is lucky to have you," announced development council President John Belcik in an email. "The results bring both new energy and perspective to the council."

The board of directors page on the council's website details the background of new board members, who include Kate Eakin, an Air Force veteran and professional consultant, John Kugler, a longtime neighborhood resident with family roots through neighborhood schools, and Sandra Ramirez, local community organizer and director of development for the Alivo Medical Center.

Also joining the board are longtime neighborhood resident Salvador G. Santillan, a business manager who also works with the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, and Anthony Wojtal, a budget manager for Chicago Public Schools.

These new board members join Belcik and currently serving board members Tony Adams, Dan Covarrubias, Liz Gres, Jim Hankes, Mary Carmen Moreno and Faye “Nikita” Wu.

The next McKinley Park Development Council meeting will take place on Wednesday, December 16, 2020, Belcik said, and will feature the release of the final draft of the McKinley Park neighborhood plan, a years-long project conducted as a Local Technical Assistance grant program from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP).