Democratic incumbent Donna Miller says she wants to continue being an advocate for the south suburbs on the Cook County Board, but faces a challenge from Republican Anna Biedrzycki who said she chose to run after COVID-19 lockdowns and learning about what children are being taught in public schools.
Miller, who previously worked in the pharmaceutical industry, said she’s focused on raising issues of geographical equity, meaning “what happens in certain parts of Chicagoland or Cook County should also extend to the suburban portion of Cook County.”
“I have no city of Chicago in my district, so that puts me in a unique position to be focused on what happens in the south and southwest suburbs,” Miller said.
Biedrzycki is a Polish American who came to the U.S. about 30 years ago looking for the American Dream. She is a pediatric nurse, and she’s married with two children.
“I am not happy with the way things are going here,” Biedrzycki said. “Instead of complaining about it, I actually want to do something about it.”
The 6th District is an oddly shaped district including communities along the state line, south to the county line and then north to Justice, encompassing eight township and large sections of South Holland, Thornton, Lynwood, Homewood, Flossmoor, Steger, South Chicago Heights, Park Forest, University Park, Richton Park, Orland Hills, Crestwood, Alsip, Worth and Bridgeview.
Biedrzycki said she’d like to reevaluate the public education system and “bring God back into the school.”
“That was one of the biggest issues. When we removed God, everything else went out the window. It was almost like a free for all,” Biedrzycki said.
Miller worked on CPR legislation, which developed CPR and automated external defibrillator awareness and training programs for all Cook County employees. Miller received an award from the National Association of Counties for this legislation, she said.
Miller commissioned a Cardiovascular Health in the Southland report, which examined the impact of location and race on cardiovascular disease survival. She also sponsored legislation that would require the Cook County Department of Public Health to file a biannual report on the health care disparities, which the board could use to monitor the impacts COVID-19 had on various communities and determine how to support health care access.
“I am running to continue all the things that we started,” Miller said.
As a nurse, Biedrzycki said she would also focus on health care.
“I’m a servant of the people. That’s my mission. I put other people’s needs before my own,” Biedrzycki said.
Both Miller and Biedrzycki said addressing public safety is an important issue.
The board has been working with the Cook County sheriff’s office to ensure continued support of its officers, Miller said. Biedrzycki said what the current administration is doing isn’t working.
Biedrzycki said she opposes the SAFE-T Act because she believes it will increase the crime rate because criminals won’t be held accountable for their actions.
“If people know that they’re not going to have any consequences for any crimes that they commit, it’s going to become a normal event,” Biedrzycki said. “I will fight to protect the law-abiding citizens and I support police officers. I want to make sure they have the resources to protect our community.”
Miller said she’d also like to focus on economic growth and development in the south suburbs. The Southland Development Authority is working with 45 municipalities to market the south suburbs as a destination for businesses, she said.
The way to lower property taxes, Miller said, is to bring more businesses to the area. Businesses also uplift a community, she said, because they help fund schools, roads and infrastructure.
“We have the land. We have the housing. We have the people. We need the businesses and we need them to be in our area so people can work and live and continue to prosper in the area that they live in,” Miller said.
Biedrzycki said she supports businesses, particularly small businesses, coming to the southland. Whenever she can, Biedrzycki said she buys goods from a small business.
To bring businesses to the south suburbs, Biedrzycki said she would like to evaluate the root cause of why businesses have been closing and leaving the area.
“Bringing businesses to Cook County, that would be a team effort. That wouldn’t be one person doing that,” Biedrzycki said.
It’ll be hard to decrease taxes with the cost of other items increasing, Biedrzycki said. She would have to evaluate spending to determine how to decrease taxes, she said.
“The way I would spend taxpayers money is remember that I was given this responsibility to put their interests first and not to unwillingly or without thinking spend their money,” Biedrzycki said.