Recently elected Cook County Commissioner reflects on first months in office
Monica Gordon is the Cook County Commissioner representing the 5th District.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MONICA GORDON.
Gordon has partnered with Circuit Court Clerk Iris Y. Martinez to host an expungement fair at the Chicago Heights Senior Citizen Center. She wants those kinds of fairs, with resources for justice-involved individuals, to be something that happens more frequently. She believes providing resources for that population will enable them to achieve prosperity.
Gordon also has been meeting with all of the Mayors from the municipalities that are in the 5th District. There are about 19 municipalities in the District. She has laid out her priorities for the District and received input from them. It is her goal to have open communication with the stakeholders in the District.
Gordon describes the 5th District of Cook County as economically diverse. She sees opportunities to help people in the District who are under resourced. She believes her purpose in life is to make a better quality of life for others.
Gordon is aware of the water infrastructure issues that have plagued the South Suburbs. She is working with those municipalities – Robbins, Dixmoor, Chicago Heights – to get State, County and Federal resources to get a handle on that issue.
Gordon remains committed to healthcare, something she spoke about while campaigning. She wants trauma services to be more easily accessible in the Southland. She also would like to see more resources for behavioral health, mental health and violence prevention.
“I really want to develop holistic solutions to the problems that we have in the Southland and the Far South side of Chicago and I really want to be there for the constituents, to find out what’s important to them, and what I can do to help move them forward,” she said, adding that she is really excited to get to work and develop partnerships.
Gordon has been able to learn from Deborah Sims, who was previously the 5th District Cook County Commissioner. Sims made mammogram testing more accessible and that is something Gordon wants to expand. She wants to bring more healthcare services to the patients and make them more accessible. While there are healthcare clinics in the District, she reiterated the need for more trauma services and more behavioral health services.
Gordon believes it is critical to get the community’s feedback in order to effectively serve them; always keeping in mind what they need and what is most important to them.
“I have a District that is economically diverse so there’s going to be different needs in the New 21st Ward versus Olympia Fields and Flossmoor. You just have to have an open dialogue with the constituents, with the stakeholders, with the leaders, the elected officials,” Gordon said. “We’re going to continue to have an open dialogue with the Mayors and involve everyone. We’ve got to come up with these solutions together and get to work.”
Jobs and job stability are very important to Gordon. She highlighted jobs with the Cook County Forest Preserve and the Cook County Health and Hospital system.
For more information about Monica Gordon, visit https://tinyurl.com/5n6bpudw, as well as following her on social media at Commissioner Monica Gordon.
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