Kane County Board Dist. 4 candidates talk connection to community
Communication and contact with constituents is a major point of Angie Clay Thomas' campaign for the Democratic nomination for Kane County Board District 4.
She contends the current officeholder, Brian Pollock, doesn't do enough of it.
Thomas says that, if elected, she wants to be proactive and send a newsletter to residents and arrange regular meetings with them. She also says the District 4 representative should have a strong relationship with the two Aurora City Council aldermen that serve the area.
"Surprisingly, neither one of them really knows my opponent, other than just from 'around,'" Thomas says.
But Pollock, who is in his first term, says he regularly meets with members of neighborhood organizations, and walks door-to-door to talk with residents, even during non-election years.
As for a newsletter, "I'd rather not have a government-paid propaganda newsletter" for his district, he says, preferring to pay for letters himself.
Thomas says people do not look for information on the county's website unless they are having a problem, so they may be missing out on benefits available to them. And she says information can be difficult to find on the site.
She also says Pollock has not been active in the Aurora Township Democratic organization. The organization has endorsed her, as have two aldermen and several Aurora Township officials. Her husband, Juan Thomas, is chairman.
Pollock has endorsements from Sen. Dick Durbin, Aurora state legislators Rep. Linda Chapa La Via and Sen. Linda Holmes, an Aurora alderman, and several Aurora Township officials.
Pollock says he is running for a second term because there are still things he wants to accomplish. He is especially interested in the legislative concerns of the county, and serves as chairman of the county board's legislative committee.
"I'm acting as the county's unpaid lobbyist at this point," he said, and cites as victories laws passed last year, including one that allows the county to charge a fee to support expanding the Kane County Judicial Center.
He has supported Chairman Chris Lauzen's efforts to keep the county's property-tax levy frozen. "We've made a lot of progress on the board" as far as shoring up the county's pension investments and saving for capital projects, he said.
Thomas, too, supports freezing the levy. She also wants to increase the county's Fit Kids initiative, to where every school in the county participates in the health program.
Both tentatively support the redevelopment of the Settlers Hill landfill site in Geneva with a cross-country meet facility, as currently proposed, and the idea of developing some commercial uses on adjacent land owned by the county.
And both favor continuing to allow county board members to participate in the county's health and dental insurance plans, as well as the pension plan. Pollock says, however, that the county board members, who also serve as forest preserve commissioners, should abolish the per-diem payments they get for attending forest district meetings.
There is no Republican candidate for the seat.