The Lake County Board seat of Michael Danforth is up for election in November, and with the Republican choosing not to run for reelection, two new faces are vying to represent District 17: Democrat Mary Mesa and Republican Joe Salvi.
District 17 includes Barrington, Barrington Hills, Fox River Grove, Island Lake, Lakemoor, Lake Barrington, North Barrington, Port Barrington, Tower Lakes, Volo, and portions of Lake Zurich and Round Lake. Danforth has been on the board since 2017.
Salvi carries the endorsement of the outgoing Danforth. Salvi lives in Barrington and has not held public office before. He has experience in business management, public service and government, he said, is an attorney and managing partner at his family law firm, Salvi & Maher, and serves as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.
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Salvi raised affordability and cost of living as key issues — a sentiment raised repeatedly by many candidates this election cycle on both sides of the political aisle. Salvi said the county is “adding to that burden,” with high property taxes, as well as sales and gas taxes.
Despite “constantly raising taxes,” the County Board is failing to uphold core services, Salvi argued, while it has “blindly” allowed programs launched with COVID-era funds to “continue indefinitely.”
Salvi said he would look over these core services, like those of the Sheriff’s Office, State’s Attorney’s Office, courts and other public safety agencies, “with the mind of a business owner,” looking at hiring, retention and “eliminating redundancies.”
“The county should find savings before asking taxpayers for more money,” he said.
Salvi emphasized transparency and growing revenue through economic development to lower property tax burdens, reviewing county contracts, rebidding major services for cost savings, and eliminating duplication between departments.
He also voiced support for streamlining permitting and approvals to help businesses and residents, reducing “unnecessary” fees and regulations, and pursuing new zoning policies for family homes to remove “unnecessary government costs.”
Salvi also raised concerns about data center development, an issue that has gripped the county since resistance flared up against the planned T5 data center development in Grayslake. They can pose “significant impacts” for surrounding communities, and there needs to be “strong protections.” He opposes data centers on unincorporated land, he said.
He also pledged to be a “responsible steward” for the county’s natural resources, supporting preservation, habitat restoration, trail connectivity and other improvements.
While Mesa has “good intentions in running,” Salvi argued he has the educational and professional experience and skills to “understand the consequences of the decisions” a county board makes.
“I will bring my legal, military, business, and government experience to the County Board to ask the right questions, scrutinize the budget, write better laws, and ensure county government is working for the people it serves,” Salvi said.
Mesa’s professional background is in residential design, doing project coordination and management. She doesn’t have a political background, she said, instead entering politics after seeing the disillusionment of younger generations towards the future.
She said her campaign theme is “protecting our land and planning our future,” emphasizing her environmental focus. Mesa said she realizes younger people today “don’t have the same opportunities,” are facing a “climate crisis,” and “financial insecurity.”
“I hope it’s not a naive thought that there’s something that I can do,” she said. “It’s time for me to see if I can make a change for that generation that just doesn’t have the same opportunities that I had.”
Mesa hopes to make change locally, including managing the county’s housing shortage and future growth while protecting the environment. She also feels “disappointed at the representation of our district over the years,” she said.
“We’re so used to the status quo,” she said. “I couldn’t sit on my hands any longer and just let the status quo continue.”
She also discussed the data centers, which the county put a moratorium on as it drafts model regulation language. Mesa said communities have to do their “due diligence” on the issue.
“You can’t just say yes or no to a problem,” she said. “You just have to readily do the research and understand if it’s something that betters your community or is something that’s not going to work well for your community.”
Mesa pointed to her work ethic, built through her personal and professional life, including as a small business owner. She contrasted that with Salvi, who she criticized as “disingenuous” for framing his family’s law firm as a small business.
“I worked for where I am in life,” Mesa said. “There’s a difference between starting from the ground up, putting sweat and tears into a project, all your dollars, your resources … I really understand what people go through. I bring a different perspective of really hard work, of honesty, of integrity.”