Cook County Commissioner District 5 Candidate Monica Gordon Wants More Resources for the Southland
Cook County Commissioner District 5 Candidate Monica Gordon Wants More Resources for the Southland (Cook County, IL) — If Monica Gordon isn’t a household name in the Southland yet, it soon will be. The ambitious leader is currently running in the Democratic primary to be the next Cook County Commissioner for the 5th District. She is also running to be the next Bloom Township Committeeperson. She believes that her commitment to bringing important resources to the diverse and often forgotten Southland, coupled with her history as a community advocate in both her personal and professional life, will make her the right person for the job.
Monica’s Career
Monica Gordon was born and raised on Chicago’s west side. After college, she found herself in the Southland to pursue her Master’s degree at Governor’s State University. After a career in medical sales, Monica found herself wanting to do more, so she took a leap of faith. “I went to Springfield,” she said. “I wanted to get more involved in our community, bring more resources back for our people, and the best way to do that was to get down there and advocate.”
Her career in the area of government flourished from there. “I became the interim executive director of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Foundation. Then shortly after that, I became the full time executive director for about two years. I stepped down so I could run for state senate.” Although she was unsuccessful in that run, Monica was soon after elected to serve on the Prairie State College Board of Trustees as Secretary. She is also the head of community and government affairs at a local university, a job where she builds relationships with people in order to provide resources that support the university’s students.
Races for Committeeperson and Commissioner
“I am a relationship builder,” said Monica. “I’m a people-person. I study emotional intelligence. A lot of that skill-set is perfect for government and for politics. It’s a skill-set that made me successful in medical sales.” As it relates to the committeeperson race she’s in, Monica said that she is passionate about bringing resources to Bloom Township so that the people can elect the right people who have the township’s best interests at heart. “I want to be Bloom Township Committeeman because I want to move the party forward…I’m already part of a robust organization – Keep Bloom Strong – but there’s opportunities to grow that organization even further to make sure that we put the right democrats in place.”
Similarly, Monica wants to bring resources to the economically-diverse Cook County 5th District. “Everyone want’s the same thing: to achieve a better quality of life,” Monica stated. “There’s an eight billion dollar budget that the 17 commissioners of Cook County vote on. And out of the eight billions dollar budget, about half of it goes to healthcare. So this is a great opportunity to continue the momentum of making affordable, accessible healthcare.”
Monica continued by saying, “For a lot of people, county government is their last resort. And it’s an opportunity for me to really make an impact in people’s lives…I’m the person who will fiercely and fearlessly fight for the resources that we deserve in the 5th district.” She said that this particular fact was brought to her attention to outgoing 5th district commissioner Deborah Sims, who has endorsed Monica to fill her seat. She is also endorsed by Personal PAC, SEIU, Secretary of State Jesse White, and a whole host of Southland elected officials.
When it comes to the issues of violence in the community, Monica said that she finds it imperative that certain programs are funded such as nonviolence programs, mental health programs, and trauma services. She also believes in supporting and collaborating with our other legislators in the fight for better gun control and bringing more funding to Illinois and Cook County in order to help address the issues at hand.
Monica Gordon seems to have it all: experience in both private and public sectors, people skills, and most importantly, passion. Her ambitions to win the seats of Cook County Commissioner and Bloom Township Committeeperson are pure and her advocacy will definitely continue to support the Southland communities for generations to come.
Cook County Commissioner District 5 Candidate Monica Gordon Wants More Resources for the Southland
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