Welcome to my campaign blog. I'm Jennifer Bishop Jenkins, and I am running for Cook County Commissioner in the 14th District.The 14th District runs across the northern part of Cook County from Northfield and parts of Winnetka and Kenilworth in the east, all the way to Barringtion in the west. The northern border of the district is all along Lake Cook Road. My district also encompasses all or part of the villages of Glenview, Palatine, Golf, Arlington Heights, Inverness, Wheeling, Northbrook, Buffalo Grove, Rolling Meadows, Hoffman Estates, Barrington Hills, South Barrington, Deerfield, East Dundee, Prospect Heights, and Schaumburg. As you can see, I live in a large and very diverse district with unique needs, differing from some of the geographically smaller and more urban districts closer to Chicago.
I have over twenty-five years of experience as a teacher and administrator in public and private high schools as well as at the college level. I have taught and developed curriculum for courses in civics and government, ethics, political science, social studies, American and world history, psychology, the Constitution, and law and economics.
For those twenty-five years, I worked to instill in my students a love for this democracy that we are blessed to live in. I taught them that if they had a complaint, they should participate in democracy and do something about it. They should not give up at the first sign of opposition, but should persevere in making the voice of the people heard in the halls of government. The government we have is the government we create -- because we are the government in a democracy.
Now, having seen the shortcomings in leadership on the Cook County Board, and while watching my own incumbent Commissioner Goslin supporting much of the Board President's inefficient, wasteful, and patronage-laden agenda, I have to "put my money where my mouth is." I am answering the Chicago Tribune's call for new candidates committed to reforming county government. I agree that this is the only way to bring desperately needed professionalism, efficiency, and responsiveness back to Cook County.
I will be an independent voice, representing the interests of all my constituents in the 14th District. I will not be bound by political allegiances to "machine politics" or beholden to powerful interests in our county that drown out the voices of the people with their financial or political influence. I pledge to dig deep to analyze what is and is not working in county government and to work tirelessly on your behalf. I will be YOUR voice in Cook County government.
I love Cook County. I was born and raised here, and my husband and I are now raising our children here. This is a wonderful place to live, but we are all responsible to do all we can to make this government work for all of us. I promise that if I am elected, I will do my part. The 2010 elections are your opportunity to do your part.
Come back to this blog often. I plan to blog on the issues important to Cook County, my campaign and events, the Board of Commissioners' meetings that I will be attending from now until the elections, news stories concerning our communities, and your questions and feedback shared with me while I'm on the campaign trail.
My campaign team and I are currently in the process of collecting signatures to place my name on the ballot. Please contact us if you are interested in helping in this effort or contributing in other ways to our campaign for better county governance.
Please visit my website at http://www.jenniferbishopjenkins.com/ for more information about me, our campaign, and upcoming events.
Jennifer
