Four candidates seek two seats in DuPage County Board Dist. 5

DuPage County residents in District 5 have two decisions to make when it comes to county board seats in the Nov. 8 election: Who should represent the area for two years and who should serve for four.

Two candidates are seeking each seat to represent the region including all or parts of Aurora, Naperville, Lisle and Warrenville.

Four-year seat

Republican incumbent James Healy of Naperville is a 59-year-old attorney and urban planner who has held his county board seat since 1996. Healy said he's proud of building 47 miles of the Southern DuPage Regional Trail in five years, working to consolidate the Century Hill lighting district near Naperville into the county and testifying in front of the U.S. Congress to advocate for counties.

"County board, like a city councilman's position, you can actually get things done," Healy said.

Healy says his goals include reducing the number of county board members from 18 to 12, combining both the DuPage Election Commission and the DuPage County Recorder's office with the county clerk's office and even eliminating the separate elected office of county chairman in favor of county board members choosing a chairman from among themselves.

"When you look at me for the county board, you look at somebody who has been here for the entire time," he said. "I'm someone who is not afraid to tell people that I believe they are wrong and what I believe in."

Democratic challenger Regina Brent of Aurora is a 62-year-old activist who retired two years ago from a 30-year career with the attorney general's office.

Brent says she's passionate about helping people, and she fears the county board has become disconnected from residents whom she wants to give "a voice."

Top issues Brent wants to address include bringing more jobs to DuPage County, expanding bus routes during off-peak hours and promoting inclusion of residents and business owners who are black, Asian, East Asian or from other diverse backgrounds.

"There is not enough communication. There is no bridge between the community and the county board," Brent said. "When I become a county board member, I intend to be a different type of member. ... I just think that we have to deal with the humanitarian parts of the needs of the people."

Two-year seat

Democratic incumbent Tony Michelassi of Aurora is a 31-year-old full-time county board member who says he has become the "least partisan member" of the body since he was elected in 2008.

He strives to be not "a part of the political noise, but a voice of consensus," like he said he did as chairman of the development committee when proposals to build mosques were causing tension between religious communities and neighbors. Michelassi said he's proud of his work to get coroner's deputies trained as grief counselors and to help the DuPage Senior Citizens Council continue delivering meals during the state budget stalemate.

Republican challenger Janice Anderson of Naperville is a 53-year-old Naperville Township trustee and executive assistant for a Wheaton technology firm.

Government consolidation to save tax dollars has been her focus at the township level and she says it would remain so on the county board. She said it's important to seek process improvements and ways to best utilize technology.

"I'm going to get in there and learn," Anderson said. "My colleagues would say about me, Janice always gives her opinion, she listens and she'll get involved."