Thursday, October 15 · 7:30 p.m.Winnetka Town Hall · Vote Remote
David SeamanCurrent Park Board
John RaithYouth coach · Law
Jon KunkleGolf · RecreationWhat we are fighting for
Built in 1972. Do what's right on a possible new two-sheet arena.
A failing pier and metal in the water. Open, safe and clean.
Room for the sports our kids play, including flag football.
Do what's right on a possible bigger hut.
Who's speaking for your family?
The Caucus picked four candidates for the Park Board. We don't believe that slate speaks for the families who fill the rinks, beaches and fields every week.
Four of seven seats are decided in one night. Your kids are growing up in these parks right now. On October 15, put all three at the table who are thinking about them: Seaman, Raith and Kunkle.
Because the Caucus's own rules invite it.
The Caucus Council recommended four names and left a sitting commissioner off the slate. Its rules let residents nominate candidates from the floor, and the Town Hall is where the whole community decides.
Slated is not elected. Asking "why these four?" is how the process is meant to work.
Already on the board, and knows the budget. In Winnetka since 2002 with his wife, Catherine Murdoch. Nearly 30 years in finance. On the Park Board 2020 to 2023 and again since 2025. Pushes for fiscally responsible budgets. Read full bio
Coached every one of his kids' Park District teams. He and his wife, Tory, have lived here 27 years. A former litigator who has led national sales teams in cybersecurity for 25 years. Read full bio
Helps guide the golf program now, as vice chair of the Park District's Golf Advisory Board. He and his wife, Liz, raised three children here over 17 years. Vice President at Freddie Mac, with a degree in recreation management. Read full bio
Winnetka Town Hall · October 15
Every adult registers separately, with their own email and cell number. Open the form
Thursday, October 15. The Park vote is first. Your ballot comes by email or text.
There are 7 candidates for 4 seats, so the vote is ranked. You'll vote four separate times, once for each seat.
Each time, rank every name on the ballot. Start at 1 and go all the way down. Never leave a line blank.
After each seat is decided, the winner comes off the next ballot. Just read down whatever names are still there and number them in the same order: 1, 2, 3, and so on. If Seaman wins the first seat, Raith becomes your 1 on the second ballot.
Keep the top three in that order. If everyone on our side puts the same name first, it counts for far more in the first round than if we each pick a favorite.
Fill in every line, including the candidates you don't want. If your ballot runs out of ranked names, it gets set aside and stops counting for that seat. Ranking someone 5th isn't a vote for them. It just says you'd rather have them than the person you ranked 7th.
This is ranked choice voting (Hare-Clark STV).
The vote uses Hare-Clark ranked choice voting, a form of Single Transferable Vote (STV).
David Seaman is a current Winnetka Park District Commissioner seeking to retain his seat. David and his wife, Catherine Murdoch, moved to Winnetka in 2002 and have two adult children who live in Chicago.
He grew up on a 400-acre family farm in Ohio, which he still helps manage. He earned a BS in Finance and Economics from Miami University and spent nearly 30 years in the financial industry, focused on institutional fixed income credit markets.
David's civic service began with the Winnetka Caucus Council in 2018, where he chaired the Parks Committee. He served on the Park Board from June 2020 to May 2023 and was reappointed in January 2025. He is the Board's liaison to the Northern Suburban Special Recreation Association and the Winnetka Parks Foundation, and has been involved with Madonna Mission, Big Shoulders Fund and the Our Lady of Grace School Board. David brings experience, a consensus-building approach and a commitment to fiscally responsible budgets that protect Winnetka's parks and open space.
John Raith and his wife, Tory, have been Winnetka residents for 27 years. Both are New Trier graduates, and their three children went to the Winnetka Public Schools and New Trier. The family enjoyed nearly every part of the Park District: the beaches, golf, paddle tennis, baseball, football, tennis, basketball and hockey. John coached all of his kids' Park District teams, from kindergarten soccer through junior high.
John grew up in Wilmette and graduated from Indiana University. He holds a law degree from DePaul University and practiced liability defense litigation in Chicago for 10 years. For the past 25 years he has managed national sales teams in information technology and cybersecurity.
He has volunteered at Saints Faith, Hope and Charity and Holy Family Ministries in Chicago, has established scholarships for Cristo Rey schools, and is a sustaining member of the Springboard Foundation, which supports after-school programs in Chicago. His goal is to preserve and enhance the Park District experience his family had, for all Winnetka residents.
Jon Kunkle and his wife, Liz, are 17-year Winnetka residents who raised three children through the District 36 schools. Jon is vice chair of the Park District's Golf Advisory Board and president emeritus of the Winnetka Men's Golf Club, where he remains an active board member.
Jon is Vice President of Seller Engagement at Freddie Mac, a role he took on in January 2024. Before that he spent nearly 21 years with a company serving the mortgage industry, in sales leadership and as divisional general manager, president and chief product officer. He also chaired the board of a Glencoe technology company and co-founded an insurance technology startup.
Jon earned a BA in Recreation Management, with a minor in Business Administration, from Central Michigan University. He then trained in the PGA of America's professional program, earned Class A Professional status and spent nine years in golf, including as head professional at a Florida resort. He wants to bring that business judgment to sound, prudent decisions about the programs and facilities Winnetka residents value.