U.S. Rep. Sean Casten says Oak Forest office will focus on constituent services
After U.S. Rep. Sean Casten sliced the red ribbon with some scissors Saturday, he said he is hoping it will represent a slicing of red tape for south suburban residents.
The 6th District congressman raised his arms in triumph during a ceremony at 15350 Oak Park Ave., Oak Forest, the home of the Downers Grove Democrat’s second satellite office.
Casten said the office will be supplied with caseworkers who can help with issues related to federal agencies.
“You will be able to tell us what you need, and our staff will be able to help out,” he told the crowd.
One of the four main areas of expertise provided by the staff will be issues from the Internal Revenue Service. Casten said if residents have not received their previous year’s return or are having other problems with the IRS, the staff will help.
The office will also aid with visas and passports for those encountering long delays with the processing. The staff will attempt to hasten the delivery of a pending application or help arrange an in-person appointment at the Chicago Passport Office.
This will also be the place to visit for veterans’ issues.
The staff will attempt to help those who served and their families obtain the status of a VA claim for service-related disability, payment of education benefits plus other issues pertaining to the retrieval of service records and missing awards or medals.
The staff will also work with residents on Social Security and Medicare issues.
Some of their areas of expertise include helping release owed Social Security disability back pay, reinstating Medicare after it is wrongfully canceled, clarifying miscommunications or mistakes between the agency and residents and receiving updates regarding pending applications.
Casten’s first satellite office is at 800 Roosevelt Road, Building C, Suite 204, Glen Ellyn. It opened under the previous district maps when the 6th District was made up primarily of western suburbs.
But the last redistricting changed the landscape. The 6th District still has a large portion of western suburbs but now includes parts of several south suburbs. Since he was sworn back into office in January, Casten has been getting to know his new communities via meetings with mayors and town hall events.
In March, he held a town hall meeting in Orland Park and Saturday he met with people in Oak Forest.
Casten said he has lost count as so how many physical and virtual town halls he has hosted since his first term began in 2019, but estimated it’s close to 60.
While Casten is more of a big-picture guy at these meetings, he updated the residents on what is happening pertaining to them locally.
“Since the new redistrict started this January, we’ve been able to get $300,000 back into the pockets of the people in the community,” he said. “These are veterans who weren’t getting checks, people who weren’t getting IRS refunds. … I’m really grateful to be able to do that.”
He also said he is working on bringing $30 million to the district for projects that would include technical assistance to the Alsip Police Department, electric vehicle charging in Bedford Park, water treatment in Elmhurst, flood control projects in La Grange and Western Springs plus playgrounds homeless shelters, traffic control improvements and wastewater improvements throughout the district.
“I don’t want to guarantee that we will get that full $30 million, but this is the third year we’ve done this and we’re batting about 90%,” Casten said. “I feel confident we’ll be able to get these done.”
Residents’ concerns at the meeting were wide ranging.
One resident quizzed Casten about the recent train derailments, including one in Blue Island Wednesday night in which 15 cars derailed.
There were no injuries, deaths or hazardous materials spilled but it comes in the wake of dangerous Midwest accidents in East Palestine, Ohio and Richmond, Indiana.
“The latest info that I have on the East Palestine derailment is there were sensors that measured the heat of these wheels and there was a series of increases of temperature measures on those wheels,” Casten said. “It wasn’t until the last sensor hit that it was above the point where it was a safety hazard that would compel the train to stop.”
He said data trends have not always been scrutinized.
“In talking with some of the folks in the rail yards, not all of the rail operators maintain trending data,” Casten said. “It’s like in your car. Do you pay attention to your oil sensor trend or do you just notice it when it’s in the red zone?
“There is a question of if we can do better trending and what are our responsibilities. We’re still digging into it.”
An individual Commonwealth Edison complaint, the repurchase agreement market crisis in the fall, health care fraud, nuclear energy and Social Security were other issues on residents’ minds.
By: Jeff Vorva
Source: Daily Southtown