Candidate – Andrés Tapias’ Response to HP Forward Endorsement Questionnaire

Question 1: Highland Park Forward believes the council should be made up of a diverse group of individuals representing the different communities and interests of the city’s residents with each bringing a unique set of expertise/skills to the council. Why are you seeking a position on the Council and what unique attributes, experience, and skills would enhance your electability and improve the work of the council?

Andrés Tapia: I am a visionary, pragmatic, and inclusive leader. I strive to build a more welcoming and thriving Highland Park.

I am a long-time resident (over 30 years), corporate executive, inclusion and diversity transformation strategist, parent, and community volunteer. Growing up bilingual and bicultural in Peru, attending an international high school in Lima with classmates from around the world, and spending my career in global consultancies focused on diversity, inclusion, and organizational transformation, I have developed into a collaborative and transparent leader with a proven track record of working with others to find win-win solutions and operational efficiencies.

This comprehensive set of experiences enables me to offer Highland Park the fresh perspective we need, characterized by strategic imagination while delivering pragmatic results. I know how to balance the wants and needs of all stakeholders while being guided by the community’s priorities. As a City Councilmember, my role is to collaborate with colleagues and represent the people of Highland Park by responding to new trends, vexing challenges, and unprecedented opportunities, while evaluating current policies and advocating for new ones.

For example, on the Thriving side, when I ran four years ago, I supported the existing priority pillars (Fiscal Stability, Safety, Infrastructure, and Community Vibrancy). However, the critical need for economic development was not prioritized. Therefore, I set out to influence the creation of a new pillar: Economic Development, which we successfully established. With that now as a strategic pillar, our leadership responsibility was to fund it. This enabled us to increase the economic development budget from ~$750K to ~$10M. These funds drove improvements to commercial district infrastructure and economic stimulus, enhancing our downtown with new restaurants and retail that significantly reduced vacancy rates (see answer to Question 3 for details).

On the Welcoming side, as the first-ever Latino elected to City Council, I brought my lived experiences and my professional insights and expertise as a global and national Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) practitioner to a broad range of policy decisions to ensure traditionally overlooked groups are seen and included. I also played an influential, catalytic role in forming the Highland Park Disability Inclusion Working Group, encouraged Latino residents and volunteers to be more visible in our community and aspire to leadership roles, and actively supported efforts to protect against antisemitism.

Question 2: HP Forward believes a community and its leaders must always be considering changes to address shifts in its residents’ wishes and needs, and to keep up with surrounding communities. What improvements and changes would you work for in city government and in the community at large?

Andrés Tapia: To be a thriving City, we need more economic development and not let up on our long-standing environmental sustainability efforts.

In Question 3 I provide more detail on economic development, but here I will focus on a strategy that will further differentiate Highland Park from our surrounding communities: branding ourselves—and fully living up to—being The City of the Arts, given how much the arts are part of our City’s DNA. We are home to the world-renowned Ravinia Music Festival, the Port Clinton Art Fair—the largest arts fair in the Midwest—and The Art Center Highland Park, the center of gravity for the arts in the North Shore and Lake County. Art galleries exist across our City, and there are many world-class performers, dancers, comedians, costume makers, and concert talent who live here. Attendance at local cultural events has grown by 25% in the past two years. The arts are not just a source of beauty and inspiration, but also a powerful economic driver, not only through their direct contributions by attracting audiences to our City but also through the spillover effect the arts have on shopping and dining businesses in Highland Park.

Additionally, we can’t let up on our long-standing contributions to environmental sustainability. I have supported initiatives such as expanding solar energy use, enacting a gas-powered leaf blower ban with a three-year transition period, improving energy efficiency in public buildings (45% of city-owned buildings are currently powered by renewable energy sources), supporting the adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles across the City fleet, and making composting services available city-wide at very low cost.

Question 3: HP Forward is dedicated to ensuring a more vibrant and thriving local business community, providing an attractive destination for its residents and visitors and a solid tax base to help reduce tax burdens on homeowners. How do you believe the city is currently meeting this mission and what would you do differently? Please share any specific plans.

Andrés Tapia: In the past four years, we’ve made meaningful progress, but there’s more to do to enhance both the daytime and nighttime economies in our commercial districts.

To compete with online retail platforms like Amazon, we need unique and enticing retail experiences that go beyond online shopping. Experiential retail, such as boutique-scale businesses already in Highland Park like The Vault Creative, Pets4Life, Kaleidoscope heART, and K-Solo Vintage, aligns with Highland Park’s strengths. Our niche is boutiques, not national chains. Additionally, we need spaces for young people. Parents planning children’s parties often turn to other suburbs, and teens still lack consistent hangout spaces in their own city.

Highland Park should not just be a daytime destination but a place where people enjoy evenings as well. Although progress is visible, there’s still more work to be done.

To achieve more vibrancy daytime and nighttime economies, I’ve supported and will continue to pursue:

∙ Effective business incentives: Attracting new restaurants (for example, DeNucci’s, Indus, The Barn steakhouse) and supporting expansions (for example, That Little French Guy, Michael’s, others) has boosted vibrancy, increased commercial occupancy, drawn visitors, and generated greater tax revenue.

∙ Downtown revitalization: I advocated and voted for comprehensive upgrades to the Central Business District, including enhanced streetscape, landscape, and lightscape. We tripled the landscaping budget, increased trash collection, added new furniture, approved the use of murals, and supported “streateries” (enclosed outdoor dining spaces).

∙ Streamlined processes: I’ve consistently advocated for simpler, less costly, more empathetic city processes for residents, developers, and businesses.

∙ Liquor license law: I voted to rescind the outdated ordinance prohibiting liquor license holders from running for public office. (See Question 4 for details.)

Question 4: HP Forward is also seeking a more open, inclusive, and transparent local government. To help us understand your views on these important goals, please reply to the following:

a. Explain your understanding of the role of the city council in interacting with the community, the different commissions, and with city staff while setting city policy and operating plans.

Andrés Tapia: The current system of around twenty Advisory Groups and Commissions is a good structure for gathering resident input on City policies and programs. For many topics, it works well but there is some room for improvement. Members of these groups sometimes feel the input process is unclear or wonder if their contributions matter. Real or perceived obstacles must be addressed, as this perception undermines the value of these groups.

Community surveys on city-wide issues are valuable, but these processes can and have become double-edged swords since the results sometimes end up being counterproductive. Overwhelming majorities may support a proposal, but their wishes may not align with the majority of City Council. For example, many people who gave enthusiastic input into what an imaginative and more permanent approach to The Lot as an entertainment venue could look like only to see it voted down completely.

Finally, while there are over a hundred people involved as advisors and commissioners, the makeup of these group members does not reflect proportionately the diversity of residents of Highland Park.

b. Explain your views on the liquor license law and how you reached your decision.

While this has been contentious this past year, the solution was simple. The State of Illinois allows municipalities like ours to rescind the law with a majority vote, which we could have done in early 2024. Since one Councilmember had to recuse themselves from this vote because they were directly affected by the ordinance, we had a tie vote, which meant falling one vote short of a majority. This then trigged a year-long protest by many residents that eroded confidence in City leadership.

This led to a referendum asking the people’s choice about rescinding the ordinance, and this passed with 82% of the vote. But the outcome still did not shift the majority position on the Council, continuing to leave out of City Council someone who had gained the greatest number of votes when he ran. Rescinding the law has always been the logical and democratically right thing to do. No resident in Highland Park who is eligible to vote should be barred from seeking public office and that’s how the people of Highland Park understood the issue. And I agree.

c. Using the recent conflict over liquor license laws as an example, what was done correctly by the council and what changes, if any, do you believe are appropriate for the council to consider when dealing with public policy issues going forward?

Andrés Tapia: Our processes, including public discourse and referendums, are intended to hear the will of the people.

One action that had the potential to be a helpful step was the call by some to study the issue a bit further to ensure we weren’t overlooking anything. This study should have taken no more than a month or two, after which the issue could have been brought back for discussion, debate, and vote.

The issue here is not that we don’t have channels and processes. Rather it was an unwillingness to listen to the people’s will which is the basic premise of a democracy. The will of the people must be respected.

Closing Statement

Please also provide a short closing statement as to any other matter that you feel is important for the community to focus on and why you deserve HP Forward’s endorsement.

Andrés Tapia: For a community to accept one’s invitation to serve them in government is to be entrusted with something of great value that must never be taken for granted. When I first ran for City Council nearly four years ago, I promised to help make Highland Park a more inclusive, thriving, and welcoming community.

Since being elected the first time, nearly every Saturday morning I have done a walkaround checking in on how our existing and new businesses are doing. I have also connected every chance I get with our residents as I come across you all through the daily rhythms of our City. Plus, I’ve invited many visitors to experience Highland Park through our retail, cuisine, arts programs, and community vibrancy.

As I look back on my first term, I am proud of what we have achieved, from advancing economic development to strengthening our sense of community. Today, Highland Park continues to be a city that balances innovation with tradition, ensuring we remain fiscally stable, safe, and environmentally conscious while still pursuing new opportunities for growth.

In seeking re-election, I bring both the experience of having delivered on many of my promises made in my first campaign, and the vision to continue building on our City’s strong foundation. We have much to be proud of, but we still have more people to include, more storefronts to fill, more businesses to retain — all while making sure we continue to be a City that works.
The best is yet to come!

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