Water & Environment

When the water dries up, cities die. This has always been true and now experts predict Joliet will run out of water by 2030. Even knowing this, our leaders fail to act. The warehouses they subsidize with our tax dollars bring in heavy truck traffic that poisons our water table and pollutes our air, and we’re just expected to be grateful. 

As the home to North America’s largest inland port, making sure we have clean air and water takes on global significance. Transportation has overtaken all other sources of pollution when it comes to contributing to climate change.

As City Councilor, I pledge to work with regional and national partners to promote the rollout of sustainability initiatives like the Green New Deal at both the local level to increase local investment in green infrastructure and energy generation while working with local industry to bring the green revolution to the logistics industry in our backyard.

Together, we can make sure our families no longer have to worry about the air they breathe, and instead create new jobs by making Joliet a global leader in the green industrial revolution.

Jobs

The growth in warehousing and logistics has made Will County the greatest jobs growth region in the state, with Joliet playing a major part. While there have been some positive aspects of this growth, such as good trade jobs; these industries must do far more in regards to job quality. It’s unacceptable that warehouse workers (the biggest employer in the city) cannot plan to retire, buy a home or even a car with the wage provided by these big businesses, some of which are the most profitable in the world. I believe it's time for a better deal for the workers of Joliet and will support movements that improve the job quality across Joliet industries so that our working families have access to the quality wages and benefits they need to sustain a family.

Logistics isn’t the only answer, as City Councilor I’ll fight for the kinds of civic projects that will create thousands of good paying jobs as we do the urgent work of fixing our roads, bridges, schools, and water access. 

I’ll also be a champion for Joliet’s entrepreneurs, including our Latinx and Black small business owners. Again and again I hear from business owners that Joliet is unresponsive to their needs, or worse, has created a business environment that’s impossible to operate in. I will work with the small business community to help shift the civic culture to attract the kinds of creative entrepreneurs who will create the economic engine of the future for Joliet.

Streets & Bridges

Mayor O’Dekirk and his friends in the Joliet City Council have spent their time working to give away taxpayer dollars to mega-corporations, promising us quality jobs that never appear. Meanwhile, the tax giveaways by City Hall leave us without the resources we need to make sure potholes get fixed and our bridges are safe to cross. I will work with all levels of government to restore our broken infrastructure and I will also bring a community driven approach to zoning to make sure Joliet remains a community where working people can raise a family. 

I also support a moratorium on new warehousing in Joliet and continue to oppose the disastrous Northpoint project that the Mayor is forcing through against the will of Joliet voters. It is clear that our infrastructure cannot handle thousands more acres of warehousing and a project of this scale further compromises what little water Joliet has left.

Decade after decade, City Hall is content to let global corporations destroy the roads we’ve built only to leave working families to pick up the tab. I say, enough is enough. Time for big business to pay their fair share.

Healthcare

Nurses and front line health workers have always been there when our families have needed them. That has never been more true than it has been over the past year as COVID-19 has torn through our communities. That’s why I’m proud to have stood shoulder to shoulder with nurses from the Illinois Nurses Association this summer as they demanded safe staffing ratios to keep their patients (our families) safe. I stood with them because our nurses shouldn’t have to fight hospital administration to keep our hospitals safe.

I was proud to stand with our nurses this summer and I will continue to work with them to ensure every family in Joliet has access to quality care. As we move to end the pandemic, that means making sure the city is using every resource available to make vaccinations accessible and to educate people around the importance of getting themselves and their families vaccinated.

This pandemic has also demonstrated the urgent need for universal medical coverage and I will continue the fight for medical debt forgiveness and Medicare for All, because no family should ever worry about bankruptcy because of a medical emergency.

Equity & Accountability

Like so many in Joliet and across the country, I was moved to action this summer by the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The power of my community standing in solidarity against racism and police brutality is something I’ll never forget. Sadly, something else I’ll never forget is our mayor’s lawless behavior when he grabbed a young Black Lives Matter protester and dragged him to the ground before JPD officers kicked and hit him and his brother on the ground. 

Mayor O’Dekirk, whose campaign slogan was “We Can Be Great Again”, learned a few too many lessons from President Trump. It’s unacceptable that our mayor and members of our City Council continue to support this kind of lawless and oppressive behavior. 

As Joliet City Council member, I pledge to restore the public trust in our institutions by creating accountability from top to bottom, starting with the mayor’s office. Whether it’s shameful behavior at protests, lawsuits with our neighbors over Northpoint, or the longstanding dysfunction of City Hall, people are fed up. A Joliet that works is possible, and it starts with the kind of meaningful accountability that I’ll fight for every day.

Schools

I am a proud graduate of Joliet public schools and was the President of the National Honors Society at Joliet West high school. I believe every child deserves access to a first rate education and will always be a strong advocate who will fight to ensure that our students, teachers, and families have the resources they need to realize their full potential in a fast changing world. 

That means fighting for equitable funding for our public schools so that we’re not asking our teachers to bring pencils and markers to our classrooms. That also means city programs to help families support their kids from pre-k through high school graduation and beyond. I will fight against further regressive property taxes and will make sure that wealthy corporations pay their fair share to fund the future of Joliet.