Dawn DeSart: Candidate Profile

Back to DuPage County board District 5

Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioQA Bio City: AuroraWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: @DawnDeSartFacebook: DawnDeSartOffice sought: DuPage County board District 5 Age: 54Family: I am the proud mother of a son who is 23 and a daughter who is 15.Occupation: Journalist/WriterEducation: I graduated high school from Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora. I earned my B.S. in Mass Communication from Minnesota State University, Mankato, Minnesota.Civic involvement: Ã#130;circ;yen; I am a long-time precinct committeeperson, currently representing Naperville Township, Precinct 75. Ã#130;circ;yen; Former vice chair of the Wheatland Township Democrats. Ã#130;circ;yen; A member of the Naperville Township Democratic Organization and ACE Indivisible in Naperville. Other civic involvement include: Ã#130;circ;yen; Emcee for the Feed My Starving Children fundraising gala Ã#130;circ;yen; A regular volunteer at Feed My Starving Children in Aurora Ã#130;circ;yen; Former Board Member on the Fox Valley United Way. Ã#130;circ;yen; Former president of the Little Blessings Preschool Board Ã#130;circ;yen; Former board member on the IPSD204 school board Ã#130;circ;yen; Emcee for Recovery On Water cancer survivor fundraiser Ã#130;circ;yen; Etc.Elected offices held: I served on the IPSD 204 School Board from 2009 to 2013, the fourth largest school district in Illinois.Questions Answers Why are you running for this office, whether for re-election or election for the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you? If so, what?I am running for a seat on the DuPage County Board to ensure that all 930,000 citizens of DuPage County are fairly and equally represented on the DuPage County Board. When I was approached by several influential DuPage County democrats and was asked to consider a run for the DuPage County Board for the 5th District, I begged off. But then I did some research into the demographics of the Board itself. The Board is made up of the Chairman, plus 18 Board members ~ three members elected to represent each of the county's six districts. Almost 80% of the Board is male. Only one member the the Board is a Democrat. This Board is not representative of DuPage County, where 50.9% of the population is female, and where in the 2016 Presidential election, 53.1% of DuPage citizens voted Democratic, while only 38.6% voted Republican. Even going back to the far less contentious 2012 Presidential election, 49.7% of DuPage County voted Democrat and 48.6% voted Republican. This is clear evidence that DuPage County is far more Ãâ#128;™blue,Ãâ#128;œ far more progressive, than many believe, and the DuPage County Board is not representative of its all of its citizens. That disparity in the lack of representation is why I decided to run for a seat on the DuPage County Board in the 5th District.What is your stance on county board members' pay? Too high, too low, just right? Would you propose any changes?As long as Democrats are in the vast minority on the DuPage County Board, there can be little debate, pro or con, regarding the amount Board members are compensated. With a Republican Chairman and the Board's membership at a ratio of 17:1, no progressive will be appointed chairperson of a committee, nor even given a choice onto which committees they serve. Therefore, if DuPage County citizens believe that the current DuPage County Board Members' salaries are too high, they must elect people who will truly listen and then represent their wishes.With DuPage County's budget being squeezed by the state funding reductions, what initiatives would you support to increase revenue and/or save money?Yes, DuPage County is being Ãâ#128;™squeezedÃâ#128;œ by state funding reductions of $3.5 million, but that isn't a new story, nor is it unique to DuPage County, only one of 6,963 local governmental bodies in Illinois. I served on the IPSD 204 School Board from 2009 to 2013. IPSD 204 is a district which educates 28,000 students, the fourth largest school district in the state of Illinois. Having served on that board, I have a track record of wise decisions and of Ãâ#128;™good governance.Ãâ#128;œ There is no Ãâ#128;™IÃâ#128;œ in Ãâ#128;™board.Ãâ#128;œ It's a team effort where you build relationships and trust with your board colleagues in order to do the very best for your constituents, even (and especially) in difficult circumstances. I served on that board during a unique and challenging period ~ a time when we were forced to cut $30 million from our budget due to state funding cuts to education. As a board, we did that by micro-managing our budget, line by line and also by increasing fees on activities like Driver's Education, which had not seen a fee increase in years. The cuts and/or fee increases were made delicately, with a scalpel rather than an ax. In fact during that period, our student achievement numbers continued to rise our students increased their ACT scores at twice the Illinois rate and at five times the national rate and financially, the school district increased its credit rating, which put 204 in the top 10% of school districts in the country.What are your thoughts about the county's Accountability, Consolidation and Transparency Initiative? What role should DuPage play in efforts to streamline and consolidate local government?Accountability ~ Every public servant is accountable to their office, their constituents, their other stakeholders and to their colleagues. With specific reference to the DuPage County Board Chairman's ACT Initiative, I applaud his efforts to save taxpayers $116 million by consolidating services, where applicable and relevant. I would, however question parts of the initiative. For example, by partnering with Kane County to provide youth detention services and saving $6.9 million by closing the county's youth home, are those at-risk youth getting the same level of counseling, education and reform? It's concerning. Consolidation ~ Were I to have been allotted more than 250 words in the previous question, I would have mentioned consolidation as an important issue in order to relieve DuPage County taxpayers of some of their tax burden. It is ridiculous that Illinois has 6,963 taxing governmental bodies, more than any other state in the country. Some hard choices need to be made and some toes need to be stepped on in order to reduce the number of governmental bodies in our state. Let's start with consolidating some local governmental bodies within DuPage County. Transparency ~ Transparency is a key ingredient of good governance. I was a champion of transparency when I served on the IPSD 204 School Board, and I will continue to champion transparency on the DuPage County Board. A transparent government is the only way to build and keep trust with constituents.What initiatives, if any, do you have in mind for your specific county board district?One initiative I would make happen is greater transparency for District 5 residents. The publication of County events and services needs to have a broader reach via newspapers, radio local neighborhood publications and social media. Just one example is that the County can help people with their heating bills through the county's LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program). Do people who need this resource even know about it? DuPage County has 7% of its citizens at the poverty level 14.4% are seniors. We must make sure that those who need County services are made aware of what the county offers.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Other issues which are important to me as a candidate for the DuPage County Board include: That the Board is representative of all of its residents. As I have mentioned previously, nearly 80% of the Board is male, and there is only one Democrat on the Board. This is not representative of DuPage County. 2. That all Board members are given the freedom to chose on which committees they choose to serve, regardless of party lines. 3. That the DuPage County Board spends taxpayer dollars efficiently, rather than recklessly. It is concerning to me that DuPage County wastes so much on lobbyists in Springfield. 4. That the Board Chairman's ACT Initiative is, in itself, held Ãâ#128;™accountable,Ãâ#128;œ and is not mere Ãâ#128;™lip service.Ãâ#128;œ (One example is that county employee salaries are held to Ãâ#128;™fair market value,Ãâ#128;œ rather than inflated at the higher managerial levels. The county needs to keep government salaries in check by ending the higher end salaries of $200,000+.)Please name one current leader who most inspires you.One current leader who inspires me is Liz Chaplin, DuPage County Board Member, District 2.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?We moved around a lot when I was a kid. My biggest lesson, moving place to place, was Ãâ#128;™Bloom where you are planted.Ãâ#128;œIf life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?College. I would have challenged myself to take more classes out of my comfort zone.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?English. I have always loved language. I am a passionate reader and writer. In life, that has helped me become an excellent communicator.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others. ~ Lewis Carroll