8 minute read
meet the candidates cam davis and kim du buclet
Harold Mendez — THE YEARS
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January 24
Cam Davis and Kim Du Buclet MEET THE CANDIDATES
arts.uchicago.edu/logan/gallery
March 8
The Weekly sits down with two Metropolitan Water Reclamation District commissioners running for re-election
BY SAM JOYCE Two of the ten candidates currently running for the Democratic nomination for three seats on the board of commissioners that governs the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) are incumbents who have been slated by the Democratic Party. (A third incumbent, Frank Avila, has not been slated but is actively campaigning for reelection.) These interviews have been edited for length and clarity. You can find extended versions of these interviews, as well as an interview with candidate Mike Cashman, an educator, at southsideweekly.com. Democratic candidates Heather Boyle, a public works and engineering clerk for northwest suburban Des Plaines; Michael Grace, a trustee of the southwest suburban South Lyons Township Sanitary District; Patricia Theresa Flynn, a village trustee of southwest suburban Crestwood; Deyon Dean, a former mayor of south suburban Riverdale; and Avila have not responded to requests for interviews. Interviews with candidates Eira Corral Sepúlveda, the village clerk of northwest suburban Hanover Park and the Democratic Party’s pick to unseat Avila, and Shundar Lin, a water scientist who has previously run for board seats on the Democratic and once on the Republican ticket and has served on the Illinois Pollution Control Board, are forthcoming. C am Davis was first elected in 2018 to fill a vacancy created by the death of Commissioner Tim Bradford. As a result of the timing of Bradford’s death, three days before the filing deadline, every candidate had to run a countywide write-in campaign. Davis set the Illinois record for most write-in votes in an election, winning 54,183 votes and the two-year term. This time around, his path looks considerably less difficult: his name is listed on the ballot. Before he was elected two years ago, Davis had a long and varied career in water protection work. He previously served as then-President Barack Obama’s “Great Lakes Czar,” coordinating environmental restoration in the region. He has also worked as president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes and as an attorney with the National Wildlife Federation. What have you done in the last couple years on the board? There have been several things that I’m really grateful I had the chance to do. One of them was the chance to vote for an independent inspector general. For the first time in a hundred and thirty years, we have what I call forensic accountants and attorneys who can follow the money and make sure that the agency, including us as commissioners, is
business with the district.
GABY FEBLAND
doing what it’s supposed to do, and complies with all laws and policies on the books.
I’ve helped lead the effort to update our watershed management ordinance. My goal with that effort has been to continue to reduce the impact of flooding on disproportionately impacted communities in Cook County. That’s something I’ve vowed to keep working for, and revising and updating that ordinance is one of the most powerful ways to do that.
I’ll close with this one: not many people know MWRD is the second-largest property holder in Cook County, second only to the Forest Preserve District. Yet we can and should be making better use of that property. I’ve been advocating for neighboring communities around MWRD property to be able to help influence what happens with that property. For example, if they would like to use MWRD property for community farming, as long as it helps reduce stormwater, it could provide space for people to have an inexpensive, healthy source of locally grown food. Especially in places like the South Side, where we have food deserts—communities without easy access to inexpensive, healthy produce—this is a good way to combat that problem.
On ethics, the Green Party slate raised this issue in the 2018 election, saying that commissioners and candidates were taking contributions from companies that had business before the district. Do you think there should be rules that restrict or limit those kinds of contributions?
Basically, those rules are now consistent with state rules. I’ve gone beyond that and have voluntarily restricted myself from taking contributions from engineering firms doing You’re in a county of more than five million people, running for an office that doesn’t really get a lot of attention, with nine other people on the ballot. How do you distinguish yourself and get your name out there in this kind of election?
I’m the only one running, whether a sitting candidate or a challenger, who has dedicated their entire adult life to protecting the public’s interest in clean water. It’s all I’ve ever done.
And I think people see that: when I ran in 2018 to fill the two remaining years of Commissioner Tim Bradford’s term, because of the timing of when Mr. Bradford died, I had to run as a write-in candidate. It was this really quirky race that most people thought could never be won, had never been done on a county-wide scale in recent memory. I think a lot of people saw that qualifications really do matter, especially in the face of the Trump administration’s public health protection rollbacks. If the federal government’s not going to protect us, we better damn well elect people who have a long, demonstrable track record of protecting the public. K imberly Neely Du Buclet was first elected in 2018 to fill the two remaining years of Cynthia Santos’s term after then-Governor Bruce Rauner appointed Santos to the Illinois Pollution Control Board. She’s now seeking a regular six-year term, with the support of the Party, the Chicago Federation of Labor, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Before she was elected to the board, Du Buclet worked as the director of legislative affairs at the Chicago Park District. From 2011 to 2013, she also served as the state representative for the 26th District, which includes parts of South Chicago, South Shore, Woodlawn, Hyde Park, Kenwood, Bronzeville, and the Gold Coast.
Can you describe your background and interest in the work of the MWRD?
I am a native Chicagoan from the very far South Side, the Southeast Side of Chicago, kind of near 87th and Stony Island. I grew up in a home out that way that flooded frequently, just about every time it rained. It was such a burden on my family, trying to figure out how to stop the flooding, so home flooding has always been a very personal cause for me. And as our cities, especially in Chicago, become more and more urbanized and we’re using more and more asphalt and other surfacing that’s not permeable, and as we’re getting more frequent—what used to be hundred-year storms [are] now one-year storms—all of this became an issue for me.
As you mentioned, urban flooding is a major issue, particularly on the South Side. Expansion is continuing on McCook reservoir as part of the Deep Tunnel project, but apart from building more reservoirs, what creative solutions can the MWRD pursue to minimize urban flooding?
Urban flooding can be influenced by how water flows, by aging and inadequate water infrastructure, new development that creates more water runoff, and of course climate change that creates these heavier storms. Green infrastructure, I believe, is one solution.
What does green infrastructure look like? What’s an ideal green infrastructure project on the South Side?
We could talk about permeable pavements for alleys, we could talk about green roofs, we could talk about the partnership we have with [south suburban] Robbins. We partnered with the City of Robbins to work with the community and stakeholders to produce a community plan that addresses their flooding challenges, but also takes into consideration how, by mitigating or by helping them with their flooding issue, the local municipality is hoping that will increase their economic development.
Since the MWRD is the second-largest landowner in Cook County, are there any specific projects you think should be pursued with that land?
I support efforts that we’re doing to solicit proposals to help develop a solar plant on vacant MWRD land in Crest Hill near the Des Plaines River. But just in general, I support the protection of MWRD lands as open space, so we can allow community uses and long-term uses that comply with our leasing policy and the state’s leasing statute. If we lease the property under our supervision, we can protect it while still allowing development to take place.
What are the other challenges that you see on the horizon for the district that voters might not be thinking about, but that will impact the district in your next term?
Obviously, climate change is an issue that we’re all going to be dealing with over the next few years, and requires change to stormwater management. Stormwater management is crucial to protecting our water, as well as our health and community, and so dealing with stormwater management is going to require us to use very creative and unique approaches for the residents and local governments working together to address these challenges. We all face the challenges of climate change.
I think we should do more to prevent stormwater from entering our overburdened system. Maybe we could provide tax credits or rebates for the inclusion of green infrastructure, maybe we could provide tax credits for permeable pavement, or for redevelopment in line with the watershed management ordinance. By doing so, we’ll allow water to be captured and stored, as opposed to running into our sewer system. I also think, in conclusion, that we can lead the effort to promote green building codes throughout Cook County. It’s my mission to continue to work with these suburban counties and municipalities to adopt policies that we can use to promote permeable pavement, green buildings, and other environmental best practices. ¬
Sam Joyce is a managing editor and the nature editor of the Weekly. He last covered Hyde Park & Kenwood for the 2019 Best of the South Side issue.
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