SEAMLESS LEADERSHIP FOR OUR COUNTY AND TOWNSHIP

Carissa knows that the Township government can be a tremendous force for good in our community. As a Lake County Board Member, Carissa is a trusted neighbor who understands how government works, who can get things done, and who can get us the resources we need on the township level. By tackling the issues we are facing today, we can build on the great work done in the past to ensure Warren Township is a beacon for seniors and working families for years to come.

​

SENIOR SERVICES

Carissa understands the importance of our senior services and will:

• Protect our Warren Township Senior Center.

• Work to restore our low-cost township-based ride service.

• Work to protect and improve activities and opportunities for Seniors.

• Work to expand services for seniors by improving access to healthcare, learning, volunteer opportunities, and more.

• Work to expand access to needed services to combat food insecurity, increased housing costs, and more.

• Explore providing a respite care program for caregivers.

​​​​​

QUALIFICATIONS/FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY​

Carissa is the most qualified person on the ballot to bring Warren Township into its next chapter. 

In her10-year career in public service, she's represented our community:

• As a Lake County Board Member (yearly budget of about $650 million)

• As a Lake County Forest Preserves Commissioner ($18 million budget)

• As a Millburn School Board Member ($18 million budget).

For comparison, the yearly Warren Township budget is about $14 million. 

 

Carissa has safeguarded taxpayer dollars in each leadership position while improving services, which is exactly what she will do if elected to be your Township Supervisor.

​

• On the Millburn Board of Education, Carissa:

  • Helped take the district from over $1 million in debt to having a surplus and rebating property taxes to residents while improving every aspect of the curriculum, adding full-day kindergarten, adding a district 1:1 program (which proved essential during COVID), and more.​

• On the Lake County Board, Carissa:

  • Held property taxes flat for homeowners four out of five years while improving services.​

  • Carissa also has experience spearheading successful programs and initiatives. On the Lake County Board, Carissa has helped lead an award-winning effort to bridge the digital divide in Lake County called the Digital Growth Initiative. The research she conducted for this effort laid the groundwork for the county’s Digital Equity Action Plan, which the county is currently executing. The action plan is designed to expand countywide access to reliable, high-speed broadband infrastructure, remove barriers to affordable internet, device access, and digital skills training, and build an ecosystem of local partners to drive digital inclusion efforts.

  • Spearheaded an effort to bring translation devices to every public-facing counter in the county, making our county services more accessible to residents.

  • Worked to identify a key flooding mitigation project in our community and is now working collaboratively with Lake County's Stormwater Management staff and the Warren Township Highway Department to ensure it is completed.

  • Has served the county on eight other boards and commissions, building relationships throughout the county that will serve us in the township.

  • Has handled a significant number of challenging constituent issues with sensitivity and dedication.

​​

TRANSPARENCY, ETHICS, AND ACCOUNTABILITY​

Carissa believes transparency and accountability in government are indispensable to building and maintaining our community's trust in government. Carissa will work to:

​

• Hold meetings at a time convenient to the community. They are now at 5:00 PM on Monday nights, making them inaccessible to most residents.

• Record and stream all meetings so working families and those with mobility issues can access them.

• Create a Warren Township Strategic Plan with community input. Every governing body should have a public-facing strategic plan. It is how the government communicates its intentions transparently to the community and ensures that goals are met. There is currently no Warren Township strategic plan on the website.

• Provide more detailed agendas with links to pertinent supporting paperwork and descriptions of each agenda item so the public can better understand what will be discussed in each meeting. Current agendas are confusing and incomplete.

• Make election filing materials and the Warren Township Ethics Ordinance available on the website so residents can access them. Residents shouldn't have to email township staff or submit a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) to view them.​

• Follow the Warren Township Ethics Ordinance, including obeying the prohibition on campaigning on taxpayer property.

• Provide Spanish translations for meetings to engage more of our community.

• Create a public-facing sign-up page for township rooms and fields so everyone can see who can access our taxpayer property and when.

• Unless there is an emergency, Carissa will not resign halfway through her term to stack the deck for a hand-picked successor, preventing most challengers from competing. This has been the practice of township supervisors for decades. This is a democracy. We should act like it.

​​

HEALTH AND COMMUNITY

Carissa believes that protecting the health of our community is critical. Together, we can continue to provide and expand the township's excellent services while fighting the rising increase in poverty and homelessness. 

Carissa understands the importance of health and community and will work to:

• Expand access to critical services by working to coordinate our county's nonprofit efforts to benefit all of Warren Township.

• Expand community access to healthcare by instituting a prescription drug savings card program, an ADA-accessible telehealth booth, and more.

• Expand mental health services.

• Fight housing insecurity by coordinating with nonprofits.​​​

• Fight rising food insecurity by partnering with the Northern Illinois Food Bank for our Warren Township Food Pantry.

• Work toward raising grant funds to open a space on the township's east side (in addition to our west side facilities) to ensure we serve all of Warren Township. 

• Investigate offering respite care for caregivers of seniors and those with disabilities.

• Provide a service coordinator and resource guide for families of kids with special needs.

• Prevent gun violence by

  • Participating in nonpartisan gun safety initiatives

  • Coordinating with our Lake County Gun Violence Prevention Initiative, local police departments, and the Lake County Sheriff's Office to make our community safer.

• Ensure that everyone who uses township services feels safe and included.​​​​​

​​​​​​

ENVIRONMENT

​Carissa believes that everyone in our community deserves to breathe clean air and drink clean water. Working together, we can make Warren Township an example of sustainability. Carissa will work to:​

• Use native plants as much as possible on our township grounds.

• Create a township environmental action plan to reduce our carbon footprint and save taxpayer money.

• Take advantage of grants and programs for renewable energy improvements (such as the state's Community Solar program) for the township.​

​

COMMUNICATIONS

The township has some of the best programs in the state. 

When elected as Warren Township Supervisor, Carissa will work to:

• Build on our communications as they exist to create a comprehensive public outreach program to inform residents, schools, houses of worship, area medical professionals, and more of available services.

• Actively outreach to our growing Latino community.​

​​​

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT​

As a community leader, Carissa believes she should be accountable, responsive, and present.

​

Carissa works to ensure our community knows she has our back by:

• Attending hundreds of community events, meetings, fundraisers, and other gatherings to support our community.

• Networking with countywide nonprofits for the benefit of our community.

• Speaking with and meeting regularly with other local leaders to ensure that we are working together in the best interests of our community.

• Hold weekly office hours and meet with constituents to hear their thoughts and ideas on strengthening and improving our government and community.​​​​​​

• Working closely with residents to address needs and concerns.

​

WORKERS/LEADERSHIP STYLE

Carissa knows that workers are the foundation of every highly functioning entity—government or otherwise. Each working member of our government deserves to be treated with fairness, respect, and dignity. Treating workers with decency is more humane and cost-effective and yields better results. Carissa understands she can better serve our community by maintaining good relationships with our township's working men and women and promoting a positive, trusting working environment.

​

In every position she has led, Carissa always:​

• Treats every worker and staff member respectfully and courteously, even when asking challenging questions.

• Devotes time to relationships within the staff to build trust and ask deeper questions about their ideas, goals, and aspirations. ​​​​​