Candidate for
Member; Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council

My name is Drew Fine and I am running for Oak Park MAC. I love this town and I am thrilled to live here and eager to be part of its government.

Oak Park is a small town where people want to live. A simple statement indeed, but the power, unity, and strength behind such a statement are what make Oak Park the extraordinary community that it is.

Oak Park is a town united by its residents who want to live safely, want to raise their children in an idyllic environment, and have those children go to some of the best schools in the state. These ideals breed pride that our residents, our children, can carry with them. It is a feeling of pride in our community, and being from a small town myself, I know that it becomes an intrinsic strength that we, and particularly our children, can carry throughout their lives. Simply stated, it is a strength derived from a solid foundation.

My platform for this election is "building on our strengths," and that's what I will do when elected to MAC. To improve our community, we must take stock of our strengths and emphasize those good things. A good example is our local sports organizations. These organizations are strong and full of dedicated individuals, but there are too few women coaches. We take our sports very seriously in Oak Park and Agoura, and it is indeed a strength, but how much better would it be if we could get more women involved? I have a ten-year-old daughter and I have coached her WAGS teams, AYBA and AYSO. Out of the twenty U12 girls soccer teams in our region there are no women head coaches. Needless to say, female role models are important in sports as in other parts of life.

Oak Park is a safe town. We can walk down the streets at night with little worry. Our doors and windows are not barred. We are virtually crime free! What a wonderful feeling of strength that is. Yet what about the teenagers? What do they have to do on Friday and Saturday nights? We were all teenagers once, so each of us knows quite well how easy it is to get in trouble. I think these kids need a place to go. Having been a volunteer Sheriff Deputy, I have seen how participation in community affairs can really help kids and the community. Giving kids a pathway to be part of the community could be a a simple approach that makes them be part of a solution to a potential problem. We have raised good kids and that is another one of our strengths, and giving them an opportunity to prove it builds on that strength.

As a coach, my number one priority is to have the children of all the teams, not just ours, feel good about themselves. Regardless of the final scores, if they leave with a strong sense of self-esteem they still are winners. I also teach them to work together as a team and the importance of 100% commitment and involvement. As an Oak Park MAC member I would continue to protect the things that make this city strong and work within those strengths to make Oak Park an even better place to live. I would strongly encourage resident involvement and make it easier for those who want to participate to do so.