Mayor Henry L. Kuspa

From the Office of the Mayor

September 30 is the last day to submit responses for the the 2020 census. Completed only once a decade, the United States Census determines congressional representation, determines how federal funds are apportioned and provides data relevant to communities until 2030. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, it is vitally important that every person be counted before the September 30 deadline.

The results of the 2020 Census will help determine how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding flow into communities every year for the next decade. That funding shapes many different aspects of every community, no matter the size, no matter the location.

Census results affect planning and funding for education—including programs such as Head Start, Pell Grants, school lunches, rural education, adult education, and grants for preschool special education. These results affect planning and funding for healthcare—including programs such as Medicaid, Medicare Part B, State Children’s Health Insurance, and the prevention and treatment of substance abuse. They also affect planning and funding for infrastructure—including programs for highway planning and construction, Section 8 housing, federal transit, community development, and rural water and waste disposal systems. The list goes on, including programs to support rural areas, restore wildlife, prevent child abuse, prepare for wildfires, and provide housing assistance for older adults.

Use this link to complete the 2020 Census: https://my2020census.gov/.

Please contact my office at 708-687-4050, x1005, should you have any questions about the census or concerns relating to our community.

COVID-19 Updates

On Wednesday, August 26, Governor Pritzer issued a new face mask mandate for all restaurant and bar patrons in Illinois. Customers must put on their masks while interacting with wait staff and other employees including when orders are taken and food is being served inside or outside. Additionally, the new mask rule also applies to customers picking up take-out orders.

Oak Forest COVID-19 Statistics

Here are the current numbers for the city of Oak Forest from the Illinois Department of Public Health website (www.dph.illinois.gov/covid19/covid19-statistics) as of Friday, September 25, 2020:

537 positive cases
7,018 people tested
4.5% Positivity Rate (Southern Cook Area, Region 10)
10 Covid-19 related deaths in Oak Forest since March 27, 2020

Restore Illinois Mitigation Plan Updates

New mitigations are applied if a region's positivity rate averages greater than or equal to 8% for three consecutive days.

Mitigations are applied on a regional basis based on the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Regions that have traditionally guided the IDPH in its statewide public health work.

The City of Oak Forest is in Suburban Cook - Region 10.

Read more about the coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/restore-illinois-mitigation-plan.

Project Fire Buddies

The seed for Project Fire Buddies was planted in 2016 when firefighters and paramedics from Oak Forest Fire Department helped one child who was struggling with complications from cancer.

It found roots in the department and flowered in the hearts of first responders, community members, and the families of the children they served. In the very near future, Project Fire Buddies hope to grow stronger and plant new seeds in various fire and police departments across Illinois. With the dedication and support of the firefighters and police officers in these departments, they will be able to brighten the lives of more children than they ever thought possible.

Please listen to a recent Interview with Oak Forest Firefighter/Paramedic Kurt DeGroot on The Fire Inside Podcast at: https://thefireinsidepodcast.com/77-2/ about how Project Fire Buddies came about.

Halloween Trick or Treat Hours

Halloween is Saturday, October 31, 2020. Trick or Treat hours in the City of Oak Forest are 3 pm - 7 pm.

Please keep groups to a minimum and practice social distancing. Wearing a mask or face covering is required per rules set forth by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Please respect the wishes and privacy of residents not participating in Halloween Trick or Treating.

Early Voting at Oak Forest City Hall

The City of Oak Forest will once again offer residents the opportunity to cast their votes early for the upcoming November 3, 2020, election. Please remember to wear a mask or facial covering and practice social distancing.

October 19 - October 23
8:30 am - 7:00 pm
October 24 - October 25
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
October 26 - October 30
8:30 am - 7:00 pm
October 31 - November 1
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
November 2
8:30 am - 7:00 pm

Oak Forest City Hall is located at 15440 S. Central Ave.

Full-Time Firefighter Eligibility List

The Oak Forest Fire Department provides 24-hour fire protection, paramedic service, and emergency response to the residents and businesses of Oak Forest. The department was founded in 1945 and has provided excellent public service throughout its existence.

The Board of Fire and Police Commissioners for the City of Oak Forest is now accepting applications for the Full-Time position of Firefighter. Testing is being conducted to establish an Eligibility List for future available positions. Applications will be available online until October 7, 2020 at 2:00 PM. The application deadline is October 7, 2020 at 4:00 PM.

For job requirements, salary and other pertinent information, please go to this website: https://jobsource.copsandfiretesting.com/jobs/oak-forest-il-entry-level-firefighter.

Weekly e-Briefs

The City of Oak Forest introduced e-Briefs in February 2015. This free, voluntary e-mail service provides information about city services, activities and events. On a weekly basis, you can also expect to find a message from the Mayor about current events involving the Oak Forest area.

If you know someone who would like to receive the weekly e-Briefs, please have them visit our website to sign up: https://www.oak-forest.org/list.aspx. An e-mail will be sent to confirm a "subscription" to e-Briefs.

They can also send an e-mail to CityofOakForest@oak-forest.org to request e-Briefs. Please remember to allow mail from listserv@civicplus.com.

Business Interruption Grants (BIG)

Applications for a second round of funding through the Business Interruption Grants Program are currently available. A total of $220 million will be made available for small businesses of all types in Illinois. Two businesses in Oak Forest were recipients during the first round of funding

More details on the latest round of funding and how to apply can be found at: https://www2.illinois.gov/dceo/SmallBizAssistance/Pages/C19DisadvantagedBusGrants.aspx.

ComEd Encourages Customers to Take Advantage of Expanded Assistance Options to Help with Energy Bills

As many Illinois families and businesses continue to struggle with the financial challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, ComEd reminds customers in need that a variety of options remain available to assist with past-due balances, but many of these enhanced financial assistance options are only available for a limited time.

Customers who are challenged in paying their outstanding balances and energy bills should contact ComEd's customer care team as soon as possible at 1-800-EDISON-1 (1-800-334-7661), Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to take advantage of assistance options. Information on each of these options is available at ComEd.com/Support.

ComEd worked with the Illinois Attorney General’s office, the staff of the Illinois Commerce Commission and a broad group of stakeholders in June to offer the following customer-assistance options that are available for a limited time:

• Bill Assistance for Eligible Low-Income Customers. To help customers who are past due on their ComEd accounts, ComEd provides additional bill assistance – up to $500 – for eligible, low-income households earning 200 percent or less of the federal poverty level.

• More Flexible Payment Arrangements. For a limited time, ComEd offers payment plans of up to 18 installment payments with a 25% down payment for eligible residential customers. Low-income residential customers and those facing financial hardship can spread amounts they owe over 24 installment payments with no down payment.

These customer assistance options supplement the extensive relief that ComEd already offers customers in need, including:

Flexible Payment Options. These include budget billing, which averages payments over a 12-month period to help customers manage their monthly energy bills.
CARE Financial Assistance Grants. For customers who struggle to cover energy expenses, ComEd offers a wide range of financial assistance programs.
Supplemental Arrearage Assistance. Recognizing that customers facing economic hardship may be challenged to quickly pay off debt accrued during a period of nonpayment, ComEd also offers arrearage assistance through its Supplemental Arrearage Protection Program (SARP).

ComEd also offers usage alerts and energy-management tips to help customers manage energy use to save money now and on future energy bills. For more information, visit ComEd.com/OnlineTools.

ComEd Offers Families and Businesses Tips to Avoid COVID-19 Related Energy Scams

As the COVID-19 pandemic takes a financial toll on families and businesses across northern Illinois, scammers are increasing their efforts to take advantage of vulnerable customers who may be struggling to pay their bills.

Even before the pandemic, ComEd had experienced a 60-percent increase in reports of scams and attempted scams into its call center since 2017. More recently, imposters posing as ComEd employees are approaching individuals and businesses to attempt to steal their money, as well as personal and business information.

One tactic scammers use with more frequency is “spoofing” ComEd’s name and phone number. Spoofing uses technology to change the caller’s identification information so that ComEd’s name and phone number appear in the customer’s caller ID display. Another tactic involves sending emails with slight modifications to the ComEd name to make it appear it is coming from the energy company. Scammers may even demand that an individual make a direct payment with a prepaid cash card or instruct a business to deposit a payment in an alternate account.

Tips to help homeowners identify scams, ComEd will never visit or call a customer’s home or business to:
• Ask for immediate payment with a prepaid cash card or cryptocurrency such as bitcoin.
• Ask for their ComEd account number or other personal information, such as a driver’s license number, Social Security number, tax identification number or bank information.

Tips to help businesses to identify email scams:
• Carefully review email messages originating from outside your business network.
• Check the person’s name and business in the email and make sure it matches the name and business in the email address. For example, some imposters will use zeros in place of the letter O or switch letters in the business name so that “corp” appears as “crop.”
• If you don’t recognize the sender, call the individual or business to verify the message is legitimate. Use a phone number from your own records or an online search and not the number provided in the email.
• Confirm that the contents of the email look legitimate, especially when a request can have major effects for your company, such as transferring large amounts of money.
• Hover over website links before clicking to confirm the legitimacy of the site.

Tips to help all customers identify an actual ComEd employee:
• All ComEd field employees wear a uniform with the ComEd logo, including shirt and safety vest.
• ComEd employees visibly display a company ID badge with the ComEd logo and employee’s name.

Scammers rapidly change their tactics so if you are suspicious of any energy-related request or actions, stop what you are doing and call ComEd immediately at 1-800-EDISON-1 (1-800-334-7661). Businesses can call 1-877-426-6331. For more tips on identifying energy-related scams, visit ComEd.com/ScamAlert.

2020 Road Program Update!

Concrete has been completed on the first group of streets and our contractor has already started on the second group of streets.

Remember, the contractor will notify all the residents a day before any work will be done to your apron or curb by placing a notice on your door.

This year’s program will include the following eleven street segments to be resurfaced:

1. Willow Lane – Forestview to 151st
2. Condado – 151st to Hillside
3. El Morro Court – El Morro to end
4. Menard – Vine to 147th
5. 149th Street – Laramie to Cicero
6. Essex – Tudor to Reynolds
7. Dolores – Rob Roy to Orogrande
8. Peggy Lane – 159th to Independence
9. Mann – Craig to Blair
10. Newport – Laramie to Bellaire
11. Oakwood Court – Newport to Cul-de-Sac

Next Oak Forest City Council Meeting

The Oak Forest City Council Meeting will be held on October 13, 2020, at 7:30 PM. To watch the previous meeting held on September 22, 2020, please click on the image below.

e-Briefs is a free, voluntary e-mail service, which provides information about government services, activities and events.
On a weekly basis, you can expect to find City Council news and agendas, construction updates, public safety reminders, senior and youth news, and much more! Please forward this e-mail to friends and family and encourage them to sign up
for the weekly e-Briefs by visiting the Notify Me section of our website. Contact the City of Oak Forest at 708-687-4050 or cityofoakforest@oak-forest.org.