“All politicians are crooks. Parties only care about maintaining power. Politicians are self-centered and lie. All Democrats want to do is spend money.” This is largely untrue.

The Democratic Party is in a paradigm shift. Yes, democrats can be disorganized, they can be distracted and lose focus, and at times they frustrate even those of us within the party. Yet at the end of the day, Democrats will often find themselves on the side of working families and marginalized people. Immigrants, women and children, working people, healthcare, everything individuals and families require for a life that is well lived – this is what democrats believe.

Currently, the Republican party lacks a national platform. They do not have a road map to building a strong vibrant democracy. The Republican party today has moved towards restricting voting, eliminating and revisioning history to remove all mention of slavery and the white power that used human beings to build the economic muscle of the country.

Republicans have stripped women of the freedom to have to make choices regarding their bodies. Republicans have fought against the increase in the minimum wage, reduced resources to families who live below the poverty level and have obstructed every idea for preserving and safely protecting the environment. Republicans have eroded the separation of church and state by appointing extreme conservatives to the bench.

Currently, the Republican Party is the party of no. The party of exclusion. The party of wealthy individuals who have no need of government support. The idea of virtue, “Putting aside personal agendas in order to serve the common good” has been lost. The only party to carry that banner is the Democratic party, the people’s party.

I come from a proud union family, a family of steel mill workers. Republic Steel built the High School, a grocery store and a local health clinic, making sure their workers were well paid and families were taken care of and in the end, did whatever they could to help the community. They did this because unions fought for the workers and their families. This is what caring for the common good can look like. They were Democrats.

In McHenry County, Democrats are underdogs. We have to raise more money, work harder and convince people there are Democrats in our community. I believe in and support the Democratic platform and the principles that inspire and create a vision of a strong vibrant democracy where everyone is welcome.

What is the County Board and What Does it do?

The primary function of the County Board is to establish the various budgets of the county funds and adopt ordinances and rules pertaining to the management and business of the county department. The County Board is the only county-wide representation group and as such it articulates the will and desires of the people across McHenry County.

More broadly the County Board through member representation can be a leader in innovative problem solving, and creative ideas for serving the common good and inspire municipalities to work together County wide to assure the health and well-being of all county residents.