Representation as a Lake County Board Member and LCFPD Commish

My County Board and Forest Preserve District 11 is most of Highland Park, all of Highwood, and one neighborhood in Deerfield. While I do reach out to our municipal leaders and citizens in District 11 as my primary responsibility, representation does not end at the district border.

I am proud to represent everyone of our 704,000 folks in Lake County and am one of 21 on these boards that are responsible for their health, welfare, safety, and enjoyment of our County. While approximately 75,000 folks are not represented by a municipality live under our protection, land use, and authority, they are mostly part of a community ruled by one or several municipalities within proximity of their residence or business.

We need to be harmonious with those municipalities and encompassing communities that our unincorporated residents and business live and operate within. Sometimes ordinances and laws we might enact are not perfect for all our unincorporated residents since Lake County communities do not live under the same laws. At these times we must come up with a consensus that best serves all our residents even though it is not perfect.

A good example of this came at our August board meeting where I supported video gaming in Lake County (vote was 11-9 in favor). Unincorporated Lake County tavern business owners were unfairly prohibited from having video gaming while many of the North and Western municipalities had legalized video gaming within their boundaries. Competing taverns that could have these machines were as close as across the street. Revenues and demand put our unincorporated business owners in jeopardy since clients wanted an option to play these games.

The State of Illinois legalized video gaming several years ago unless a municipal authority objected within their borders. When the State passed this law the County enacted an ordinance to prohibit video gaming in Lake County hoping that municipalities would follow. Unfortunately, many have recently revoked prohibiting laws and are now allowing video gaming causing us to deal with the matter.

Highland Park, Highwood, and Deerfield are not directly impacted by this decision since video gaming is currently prohibited. 

However, I am also a County Board member for all the unincorporated business owners and was proud to help them stay in business, provide for their families, and keep their employees working.