As Election Day ticks closer, one problem facing Gurnee residents has become the forefront issue in the village’s mayoral campaign between Vice Mayor Thomas Hood and Woodland School District 50 board member David Weinstein — ethylene oxide, which is used and released by Vantage Specialty Chemicals, a local chemical plant.
Ethylene oxide is a flammable gas that is primarily used to produce chemicals like antifreeze, but is also used as a pesticide and sterilizing agent, according to Cancer.gov. The website said that the gas can also lead to cancers, including lymphoma and leukemia.
Vantage Specialty Chemicals is located at 3938 Porett Drive, and Weinstein said that if elected mayor, he would through home rule legislation — through which Gurnee would be able to govern itself — pass the village’s own legislation relative to the plant, rather than deferring to state measures.
“There’s other products they could be using that aren’t ethylene oxide that cost a little more, so they’re making money by poisoning our people,” Weinstein said.
– Original Credit: News-Sun
But Hood said that getting rid of Vantage isn’t that simple. He said that the most effective way to limit the amount of ethylene oxide that is being released is through state legislation, something that the village has been working on with state Sen. Melinda Bush.
In 2019, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency placed a cap on the amount of ethylene oxide the plant can emit annually. Updates on the village’s actions relative to ethylene oxide can be found on its website. The most recent, posted Feb. 23, said that Vantage has reduced its emissions from thousands of pounds released per year in previous years to 62.44 pounds released in 2020.
“Any pounds of [ethylene oxide] is not good, but at the end of the day to go from thousands of pounds to 62 is awesome, especially in that length of time,” Hood said.
– Original Credit: News-Sun
Weinstein instead argues for the use of home rule legislation to get Vantage Specialty Chemicals out of Gurnee, adding the village’s lawyers have been incorrect in saying that is not a possibility for the village.
“It’s black-letter law that we have the authority to do this,” Weinstein said. “We consulted with the environmental department at Northwestern Law School, and they totally agreed with us. The first rule of being a mayor is you have to take care of the health and safety of your residents, and I’m going to do that.”
In addition to tackling the ethylene oxide emissions, both candidates are eager to work with their sister governments, including the local school districts.
Weinstein said that if elected, he eventually hopes to bring a cannabis shop to Gurnee, and have some of the tax profits that would typically go to the village go to the school districts.
“I think that would help a lot, because our finances are much better than what our local school districts are right now,” he said.
Hood said that he wants to continue to bring businesses into town to help bring more money into the school districts, although he doesn’t want the businesses to hinder residents.
“There’s always that tension between, we like businesses in town but we don’t like our residents being seemingly sometimes oppressed because someone is wildly successful, and then they can’t travel down the road because it’s so busy,” he said.
Both candidates are lawyers operating their own law practices. Hood runs Gurnee-based Hood Law P.C. with his son, Dan. Weinstein’s practice, David Weinstein Law, is based out of Waukegan.
When it comes to campaigning, Hood said he has been “enjoying the process,” even during the pandemic, and has been getting the word out about his campaign through virtual channels, as well as knocking on doors but remaining socially distanced and wearing a mask.
Weinstein also has been out visiting the community while socially distanced, saying that’s the “number one way to campaign.”
Both candidates have also touted the endorsements they’ve received. For Weinstein, he’s been endorsed by U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, and Hood has been endorsed by all of his fellow members of the Village Council.
They have both been receiving support from community members as well, but for Hood, some of the support may result in a fine from the state Board of Elections after he was late in disclosing contributions made to his campaign. He received a $1,000 contribution on Feb. 9 and a $2,000 contribution on Jan. 15 that were not reported until Feb. 22.
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According to the Board of Elections, political committees or candidates need to disclose if they receive a contribution of $1,000 or more within five business days of the contribution.
Weinstein said that as a lawyer and someone who has previously held a public office, Hood should have known when he should have reported campaign contributions. Hood doesn’t deny that, but chalks it up to a mistake, as he thought that he would have to disclose contributions of $5,000 or more.
“It was just a mistake on my part,” Hood said. “The real purpose behind it is you don’t hide your donors, and everybody can see [who donated], I was just late doing it.”
When asked if he had ever needed to disclose his campaign donations previously while running for other public positions in Gurnee, Hood responded that this was his first time disclosing donations because he had never received a donation surpassing $1,000.
The municipal election will be held April 6.
Erin Yarnall is a freelance reporter.