I had to renew this domain today, so I thought I would go through and revamp the site to reflect my new position. I’ve also thought it might be convenient for folks in my district to be able to follow my platform and efforts as they unfold in the County Board. So I have edited the site to be an ongoing project – my way of letting you know what I’m up to and what my current efforts are. Feel free to check out the revamped content!

I am also happy to report I mailed out my first charitable contribution as part of my salary-reduction program. The charitable contribution for the month of December has been sent to Loaves and Fishes of Naperville – I want to thank both the members of that organization and its supporters who brought it to my attention. I wish them the best in their efforts to end hunger.

The following statistics are taken from the DuPage County Board of Elections website. You can view all election results in DuPage County by clicking this link.

DuPage County Board District 5

Precincts Reporting: 100.0 %
Total Votes: 95,650
James D. Healy (R): 33,821 – 35.36%
Tony Michelassi (D): 32,009 – 33.46%
Gerald Cassioppi (R): 29,820- 31.18%

I cannot begin to express my gratitude to the people of District 5 for choosing me to represent them on their County Board. I promise to serve to the absolute best of my ability. I could not have attained this office without the help and support of so many, if I tried to list them all here… I wouldn’t get any sleep tonight! But they know who they are, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

Time to get to work.

As we draw near to the election, I feel it’s my duty as a candidate to provide you, the voters, with the information you need to make the best choice. So I’ve compiled a list of interviews and questionnaires I’ve completed during the course of the campaign. I hope all this information helps you! I can only ask for your vote.

TEXT:

Naperville/Lisle Sun Profile
Daily Herald column “Upstart candidate gives lesson about assumptions”
Naperville Sun Article
Daily Herald Questionnaire
Naperville Sun Questionnaire
CBS 2 & Newsradio 780 Voter Guide

VIDEO:

Tune in to Naperville Community Television, Channel 17, to watch my interview there.
The upcoming air times of it are:
Tuesday, November 4th, 2:00 PM
If you do not get Channel 17, you can watch the interview streaming online at these times by clicking this link. You can also check for additional air times by visiting the programming schedule here.

Here’s a video of my remarks at the first annual DuPage Blue Fest. Photos from that event have been added to the photo page.

The diary below is cross-posted from Prairie State Blue. Click that link to see the original, with photos! Diary by bored now.

Also, click here to check out the new “photos” page, accessible from the “about me” page!

the weather could have been better. but not the company. and the dupage democrats showed that they could tackle a big festival. the candidates sure got their money’s worth!

more importantly, people were enjoying themselves. it seems everyone wore their political wear, although the dominant outfit was the theme of the day: the dupage dem’s spiffy new “dupage for obama” shirts.

mrs bored and i arrived just before the rally began. just as we got there, it started to rain pretty good. but the rally was inside, so no worries!

party chair bob peickert was the master of ceremony. and the first order of business was to read the first place winners of the dupage democrat’s essay competition. tammy duckworth came up and gave the awards for several age categories. they were surprisingly good, well-thought out and even entertaining essays on why you should vote. we laughed. some may even have cried. but everyone seemed to be amazed at the essays the winners read.

they certainly warmed up the crowd. tammy and her husband were sent to their seats with very applause in appreciation of their service to our country. when this was done, the obligatory introduction of the candidates began. appropriately, jill morganthaler was first.

running for the 6th congressional seat, jill gave a spirited (and, yes, intense) speech on why she is running, and why roskam is wrong for dupage. then scott harper got up to speak. he told the crowd — the barn was filled — about the success of his 13 townships on the 13th canvass last sunday. state and local candidates followed.

by the time all the candidates had spoken, the (dark) clouds parted and the sun started shining in its full glory. some people chose to stay in the barn and listen to the band, but many adjourned to enjoy the games and fun outside. not surprisingly, the topic of politics came up — often. some expressed excitement about the upcoming elections. others, not so much. but even for the cynics, the good company of democrats was worth the outing.

many thanks to bob, amy and all those (including our own gary) who participated to make this a great event…

Come see me as I sit with the Scott Harper crew!

There won’t be any coffees this weekend, because I will be taking part in the largest grassroots campaign the Fifth District has ever seen… and that’s because it’s the largest grassroots campaign the 13th Congressional District has ever seen. It’s called 13 for the 13th. The Scott Harper campaign has gathered an army of volunteers to canvass the whole of the 13th Congressional District. The intent is to build awareness of his campaign as well as local candidates for state and county offices. I am very grateful to them for asking me to take part. Click on the link for information on how you can also take part in this historic event.

You may have noticed there hadn’t been an update last week about coffees this past weekend. Nor will there be any this weekend. This is because I’ll be attending two parades instead, and working on some future campaign events after the holiday celebration. Tonight I will be joining the Winfield Township Democrats as they march in the Warrenville Independence Day Parade! A few sections of Warrenville are within District 5, so it will be nice getting to meet voters. If you would like to join in, show up at Manning Avenue near Ray Street at 4:30, and look for Unit #61. The parade begins officially at 6:00.

And tomorrow, July the Fourth, I’ll be glad to join the Lisle Township Democrats as they march in the parade of Lisle’s “Eyes to the Skies” celebration. If you’d like to join in there, you can find directions here. Enter the staging area from Yackley, go east on Ohio, then look for the first left, Academy Drive. Line-up is at 2:50. The parade steps off at 3:30.

Some people might call it crazy, some might call it strange, some might call it ineffective, but it’s my plan to meet the voters of the 5th District over the next months of the campaign. The feeling I get is that people in general don’t like to have their door knocked or their phone called.

When we get into the fall months, and the election draws nearer, I’ll be doing precinct walking like every other candidate out there. But right now, I plan a less invasive, more personal approach. I will be holding forty meetings with voters at local coffeehouses and restaurants, two on each weekend, each at a different locale. Each week on Monday, I’ll announce the upcoming coffee dates for the next weekend on my website and mailing list, and their locations. Then I’ll head out to the appointed coffee shop, set up my little sign and literature, and talk to folks about the issues close to their hearts in this County Board race.

Anybody interested in coming out and meeting me at one of these coffees will be more than welcome to do so!

Here are the coffees for this upcoming weekend:

Saturday, June 21st, 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Caribou Coffee
1147 N Eola Rd # 101
Aurora, IL 60502

Sunday, June 22nd, 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Borders Books & Music
336 S State Route 59
Naperville, IL 60540

All this week, Naperville Community Television will be airing a story about me on their “Naperville Connection” news program. “Naperville Connection” airs at 7:30 AM, 12:00 PM, 6:00 PM, and 9:00 PM. You can tune in to watch on Channel 17 in Naperville, or if you live outside the city, you can go to nctv17.com and watch the program streaming live to your computer. I want to thank Lindsey Theis and the folks at NCTV for the report!

In other news, Dianne McGuire, candidate for State Rep in the 96th District, is holding an open house at her new campaign office this Thursday night from 5 to 8 PM. Her office is in the Naper West Plaza on the corner of Route 59 and Aurora Avenue. FREE BARBECUE! To RSVP, contact Kate Refine at 630-579-6696 or email kate@diannemcguire.com.