Oak Forest Appoints New Building Commissioner

The City of Oak Forest has named Mike Forbes as its building commissioner, effective Monday, April 13.

“Mike will be an excellent addition to our management team,” said Mayor Hank Kuspa. “Not only does he have extensive experience as a contractor and certified building inspector, his familiarity with planning and zoning and economic development will go a long way in the Building Department. In fact, he will have an active role in both of these areas as building commissioner.”

Most recently, Forbes served as maintenance and construction superintendent for Electro Motive Diesel, a global provider of diesel-power engines for marine propulsion, offshore and land-based oil well drilling rigs and stationary power generation. In this position, Forbes was responsible for a 1 million- square-foot facility covering 130 acres of land. Previous to his work at Electro Motive Diesel, Forbes served as a journeymen carpenter. He also is owner of Forbes and Sons Construction, which is involved in every facet of the residential and commercial construction process from new construction to remodeling.

Forbes received his residential building inspector certification from the International Code Council. He also studied building construction and code enforcement at South Suburban College in South Holland, computer information systems at Devry Institute of Technology in Addison, and liberal arts and science at Moraine Valley Community College.

Forbes, who lives in Oak Forest with his wife and kids, is an active member of the community—serving as a team manager for the Oak Forest Baseball Association and head coach for the Oak Forest Raiders Football program. Until his appointment as building commissioner, Forbes served on the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission since 2004.