Working families in Cook County are being squeezed from all sides: groceries, health care, and child care costs are up, wages aren’t keeping pace, and property taxes are rising faster than household incomes.
Affordability isn’t just about prices– it’s about whether families can build generational stability regardless of the zip code they live in.
What I've done:
❋ Protected homeowners by directing more than $30 million through Build Up Cook to invest in neighborhoods where property values were collapsing.
❋ Expanded access to good-paying, union jobs by growing apprenticeship programs that increased women in the trades by 200% and paved the way for an increase in Black, Latino, and AAPI workers.
❋ Increased County contracting with small and minority-owned firms, creating hundreds of Cook County jobs and investing in our local economy.
❋ Led major infrastructure upgrades, including hospital modernization, that prevented surprise emergency costs from being pushed onto taxpayers.
❋ Secured millions of dollars in federal investment in communities facing decades of underinvestment, strengthening local tax bases instead of allowing displacement or decline.
What I’ll do as Cook County Commissioner :
❋ Lower the property tax burden on working and middle-class homeowners by pushing for fair assessments and simplifying the exemptions and appeals process.
❋ Work to increase good paying jobs and the supply of housing at all levels to bring down prices while making strong investments in rental assistance and affordable housing tax incentives.
❋ Expand fully affordable housing and foreclosure and eviction prevention, including legal aid and income-based payment plans that keep people housed.
❋ Continue to invest in more job training, apprenticeship, and manufacturing programs that provide stable, high-wage work for County residents.
❋ Create a Cook County Affordability Task Force that coordinates between agencies to identify and implement opportunities for constituent cost relief, establish a one-stop navigation portal for residents to access all available county benefits, exemptions, and property tax relief programs, and coordinate between agencies to find opportunities to streamline enrollments, qualify beneficiaries, and comprehensively examine financial penalties.
Our county needs to treat clean water as a public health right, not a luxury. Clean water should not depend on your address or income. I will always fight to ensure no more children in Cook County get sick because their water is unsafe.
What I’ve done :
❋ Turned personal experience with lead exposure into action. After my young son became sick and tested high for lead in his blood, I helped secure nearly $50 million for Cook County lead service line replacement.
❋ Helped south and west suburbs apply for federal water grants they could not access alone.
❋ Ensured the County replaced failing water mains in suburbs that lived under constant boil orders, reducing water loss and making water infrastructure more sustainable and resilient.
What I’ll do as Cook County Commissioner :
❋ Expand lead service line replacement and hold water suppliers accountable for real lead line replacement plans.
❋ Take environmental justice seriously by prioritizing direct County resources toward communities that have been historically disinvested and unjustly put in positions that expose them to the highest environmental health risks.
❋ Invest in climate-resilient infrastructure for neighborhoods facing flooding and extreme heat.
❋ Invest in stormwater and sewer projects that protect homes from flooding and climate driven disasters.
Cook County Health and Hospitals systems are a safety net for people with nowhere else to go. I’ve already delivered major investments to protect that mission.
I will always keep our public health system rooted in dignity, accessibility, and affordability for all who need it, especially while Washington threatens to take healthcare and vaccines away for those who need it most.
What I’ve done :
❋ Secured a $400 million modernization contract for Stroger Hospital so surgeries aren’t delayed by broken elevators or failing building systems.
❋ Helped construct the Belmont Cragin clinic, which serves undocumented residents and people without insurance.
❋ Converted an abandoned Bronzeville building into a mental health facility and built a mental health crisis stabilization unit at Provident Hospital.
❋ Led County COVID safety protocols, keeping courts open, PPE accessible, and public services functioning through the pandemic.
What I’ll do as Cook County Commissioner :
❋ Make sure that Cook County remains a safe haven for working families and defend Cook County Health from federal attacks that would cut healthcare coverage for families.
❋ Ensure Cook County Health spaces are protected from Federal Immigration Enforcement activity.
❋ Protect reproductive, gender-affirming, and behavioral health services as core components of our public healthcare system.
❋ Expand healthcare services so residents can get the care they need regardless of income or immigration status.
❋ Coordinate with state and local public health agencies to provide vaccine guidance rooted in science.
❋ Work with our state and local partners to secure additional funding for clinics and care providers to stop Trump and RFK Jr.’s dangerous policies from ripping people off their health care.