Nate Mellman and John Morrissey come from different backgrounds but share a few things in common.
Both are long-time residents of River Forest and dedicated to public service.
That’s why they are each running for village trustee in the April 6, 2027 consolidated election.
They will be vying for spots currently occupied by incumbents Katie Brennan, Erica Bachner and Robert O’Connell, whose terms expire in 2027.
Mellman and his family have lived in the village for 17 years. He’s chair of the board of the police and fire commission, with his term expiring April 30, 2028. He unsuccessfully ran for the Oak Park and River Forest School District 200 board of education in April 2025.
“I want to keep our village safe, keep our finances stable and our taxes as low as possible, and continue to be a welcoming community for residents and businesses,” he said. “Everyone who serves in River Forest – the president, all the trustees, all the volunteers on the boards and commissions – does so without any payment. I applaud each of them for all their time and effort.
“Because of their commitment to serve, we have an incredibly strong police and fire department, we have stable finances, and we have a welcoming community for citizens and businesses. I want to join the board to make our community even a little bit better.”
Morrissey is a 2018 OPRF graduate and currently works for Illinois Senate President Don Harmon. He took a nontraditional route out of high school, doing union trade work and is currently first vice president of the Young Democrats of Illinois. He also helped restart the Young Democrats of Oak Park.
“I think more young people need to care about local government, not only with everything happening on the federal level,” Morrissey said. “What happens on the local level impacts your daily life the most.
“Maybe I can encourage more young people to care about what’s going on in their municipality. If elected, I’m currently 27, I’ll probably be the youngest trustee in River Forest village history.”
One issue the candidates agree on is a focus on maintaining, and developing further, a vibrant business community.
“We need to make it easy for our current businesses to stay and grow and we need to work with the business community to attract more, which will ultimately lower the tax burden on residents and allow us to keep the quality staff we currently have,” Mellman said.
Morrissey built on those sentiments.
“I’d like to encourage more River Forest businesses,” he said, offering an example. “I’d like to have a nice independent family-owned restaurant, which is something we don’t have. I think RF could do with more businesses and growing our tax base.”
Another issue they agree on is the recent debate about the proposed O’Hare Flyer train that would connect downtown Chicago with O’Hare International Airport in 15 minutes. River Forest has come out vehemently opposed to the possibility.
Morrissey said his goal as a trustee would be to get key questions answered about the project.
“There is so much we don’t know and so much speculation,” he said, pointing to the lack thus far of environmental, noise and safety studies. “I don’t think the board knows any of that. If I’m on the board, this is one of the things I want to figure out.”
Mellman was more direct about the O’Hare Flyer.
“The concept doesn’t have both oars in the water,” he said. “We have to lead the opposition. Though this project will likely never happen, as long as it’s being discussed, it will impact property values. Residents, especially those who live near the tracks, will have to deal with this uncertainly when they go to sell their homes.
“The lower property taxes resulting from impacted real estate values will not only impact village finances but when our tax revenue is affected that means Oak Park taxes have to take up the slack to finance D200. On top of every other new tax and expense that Oak Park residents seem to have to face, this is not an additional one that they should bear the burden, which is why every Oak Park resident should be opposed to this.”
Another transportation issue for Morrissey is bike lanes, which would make it easier for students to get to River Forest School District 90 schools, along with possible creation of connected bike lanes all the way to OPRF.
“I rode a lot on my bike growing up to OPRF and sometimes it was really sketchy,” he said. “I just think having protected bike lanes would be something I’d want to do.”
