Winnetka voters reelected Commissioner Colleen Root to the Park District Board in 2025. Now, for the third time since 2024, her six colleagues have voted to discipline her, and a second board president is publicly telling her she's unfit to serve. Root can't be removed under Illinois law. She says she won't resign.

The standoff leaves Winnetka residents with a park board that has spent significant meeting time over the past two years on internal conflict rather than parks.

As we reported Aug. 5, the board voted 6-0 on July 23, with Root abstaining, to require her to submit a formal letter of apology to the board and a corrective letter to the resident she had emailed. The board will review the draft before it goes out.

What started it

On July 8, a resident emailed Root with complaints about a park district survey tied to the agency's mission and vision statement update, suggesting board members might be seeking "personal enrichment." Root replied from her personal account, writing: "The majority of this compromised Board is trying to walk back the Plan they unanimously approved last October. Please let your contacts know what is going on."

Both emails encouraged circulation. A second resident forwarded the exchange to the board, and President Elise Gibson placed the matter on the July 23 agenda. The discussion came up more than four hours into a five-and-a-half-hour meeting.

Root's defense

Root opened by reading a prepared statement. She confirmed the email, called it a personal conversation with a friend and questioned how a private correspondence ended up in a public meeting packet.

"In my mind, this is protected political speech on a matter that was before this board," Root said at the July 23 meeting, according to Patch. "I did use the phrase 'compromised board.' By that, I meant a decision-making process compromised by inadequate disclosure and unresolved governance concerns. In no way did I mean any sort of allegation of bribery, corruption, or personal enrichment by members of this board."

Gibson's response

Gibson accused Root of running a "whisper campaign" to undermine the park district and alleged Root had libeled the board multiple times. She cited three code-of-conduct violations: failing to support majority board decisions, not bringing the resident's email to the board's attention and not directing complaints through proper channels. Gibson then called on Root to resign, telling her she was "unfit to serve" and that her "desire to hurt this agency and the board prevents you from properly serving this district's residents."

Commissioner David Seaman said commissioners have a duty to inform and educate the public, not sow distrust, The Record North Shore reported. Commissioner Cynthia Rapp, while supporting the discipline, called the situation an example of "the petty cruelty of local politics on both sides."

A pattern of conflict

Root has clashed with board leadership since her first term began in 2021. Former President Warren James called for her resignation multiple times between 2021 and 2023. In April 2024, then-President Cristina Codo led a censure that limited Root's interactions with park district staff and placed her official email under monitoring through April 2025.

A second disciplinary action came in early 2026 after Executive Director Shannon Nazzal filed a complaint alleging Root violated the code of ethics and created a hostile work environment. A third-party investigation did not support most of Nazzal's claims, but the board voted 4-3 to further limit Root's contact with staff.

The July 23 email exchange is publicly available in the meeting materials on the Winnetka Park District's Diligent board portal.