Hello everyone – I wanted to share an update about my decision for the 2022 election.
I have had the honor of serving the constituents of District 1 for nearly four years. Below is a summary of just some of the fantastic work I’ve been able to accomplish in these four years:
In December 2020, I was unanimously elected as the first Democratic woman to serve as Vice Chairwoman, and the first Democratic vice chair in nearly a century.
Covid Relief: In March 2020, the entire County Board shifted its focus to supporting public health. My first thought was how my family would have weathered those early months when I was growing up as the child of a single parent. I worked with a local nail salon to coordinate donations of their excess PPE, coordinating donations in my driveway to be handed off to the Office of Emergency Management to provide supplies to hospitals and first responders. As time has gone on, I’m particularly proud of the work we’ve done to keep the County operations open, retain staff and increase pay, and of the board’s close partnership with the Health Department.
Flu shots: In 2020 and 2021, I worked with the DuPage County Health Department to allocate federal funds to supply flu shots for the uninsured in our County. When we decided to continue this program for a second year, we had more vendors donating to reduce the cost for the county, and more participating in order to make getting flu shots as easy as possible.
Reinvest DuPage: In early 2020, we saw PPP loans from the federal government to support struggling small businesses. Unfortunately, we also saw many of our local businesses unable to access those loans. I asked our economic development partner, Choose DuPage, if we could recreate a similar loan program to support DuPage County residents. Experts ran with this idea, and in a few short weeks, we began making loans throughout the county. We’ve assisted small businesses with over $36M in grants, allowing our businesses to survive these difficult few years.
Representation on the County Board: I was honored to chair our Ad Hoc committee to determine the size of our County Board. We used data from Illinois counties and from peer counties throughout the nation to determine the representation that would best fit our residents. We preserved your representation on the County Board. You can read the full report here: https://www.dupageco.org/CountyBoard/Docs/63184/
Modernized the County Board Rules: In 2021, I was honored to chair our Ad Hoc committee on County Board rules. While we were continuing to tackle the challenges of COVID-19, we took the time to evaluate how we conduct business. Making sure our meetings are as accessible as possible to the public, utilizing technology, and being sure rules aren’t set to favor one party, we’ve passed a set of rules that will serve our county well for years to come.
It’s difficult to summarize nearly four years of working with constituents, meeting with community members to hear and address their needs, and working with the amazingly talented and dedicated county staff and fellow elected officials to tackle problems and find creative solutions – I can simply say that it’s been the honor of my life to give back to a county that has given me so much.
These four years have been incredibly long for us all, especially as the federal government left much of the management of the COVID-19 pandemic to local officials, and county governments in particular. I am incredibly proud of how the DuPage County Board has worked in a bipartisan spirit to not only save lives during this pandemic but also manage our finite finances to set DuPage’s recovery path towards success and growth in the future.
Unfortunately, after conversations with my family, friends, and closest supporters, I made the difficult decision to not seek reelection to the DuPage County Board in 2022.
As has previously been covered in local press, there are members of my own political party who have a long-standing history of harassment and bullying within the workplace. I have experienced this personally over the last three years including: deliberate and coordinated reputational damage caused by lies spread by members of my own party, having to intervene to stop a member of my own party from physically and verbally attacking another member, and immeasurable hours spent limiting the repercussions of such unprofessional conduct to prevent damage to our county’s institution and initiatives. Furthermore, this influence has permeated the local party’s leadership as well. I know this because I have personally (along with other hard-working members) have brought evidence of these concerns and the resulting damage to leaders for years with no action.
I am incredibly proud to be a Democrat, because for me, it’s always been an adjective. To me, being a Democrat means serving with a diverse group of individuals who want a flourishing democracy and a government to be of service to its neighbors so everyone thrives, not simply following the party line.
I’ve had the absolute pleasure of working with colleagues – both Democrat and Republican – who have had no interest in these political games, or at the very least, had the courtesy to leave them outside of the county campus. I’ve learned an incredible amount from my colleagues – neighbors of various backgrounds – and can truly say I feel like bipartisanship is not dead at the local level. Especially at the county and municipal level of government, those we serve with are truly our neighbors – we run into them while doing our grocery shopping, out walking the dog, or as they drive by and you’re outside mowing the lawn. Treating each other with basic respect shouldn’t be too much to ask, nor should it be too much to ask party leadership to require it of its elected officials. We must demand professionalism, kindness, and compassion from our elected officials as voters, not continue down a toxic path of us-versus-them.
After years of asking leadership at the county level and state level for help to address this pervasive culture of harassment and bullying, it’s clear there is not a willingness to change from those who have most benefitted from this power. It must change so future leaders who break barriers, create programs to help the county’s residents, and rebuild relationships across the county with necessary partners aren’t forced out of the party or simply turned away by constant unprofessional behavior.