As a result of April’s election, Susan Aberman and Minal Desai were sworn in at this month's annual board meeting of the Skokie Park District board of commissioners.

Aberman, board president the past two years, was re-elected after finishing first among four candidates. Desai finished second in the race for two seats.

Desai, a former bank vice-president, will become the board’s newest commissioner, joining Michael Alter, Khemarey Khoeun, Mike Reid, and Aberman. Both women were elected to six-year terms.

After swearing in its newly-elected members, the board unanimously elected Reid as its president and Khoeun as its vice president. Reid, who has served on the board since 2005, previously served as president for eight years. Khoeun joined the board in 2016.

The annual board meeting was directly preceded by the May 2019 meeting, at which outgoing commissioner Maureen Yanes was honored with an official Skokie Park District resolution and an engraved gift. Yanes served on the board for 14 years. Also honored at the meeting was Mike Rea, who will retire this month after 11 years as the district’s superintendent of parks.

The five-member board of park commissioners is elected by the residents of Skokie and is responsible for setting policies and procedures that benefit the park district and the community. The board adopts a budget, levies property taxes and is responsible for hiring and evaluating the executive director. All commissioners are elected at large and serve without compensation. 

The Skokie Park District is a distinct government agency, separate from the Village of Skokie and all other county and state taxing entities, created for the purpose of acquiring and maintaining parks, as well as developing and organizing recreational programs and events for its residents. 

Regular board meetings are held on the third Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m., in the Weber Leisure Center board room at 9300 Weber Park Place, in Skokie.