Official Profile of Steven Leopoldo Candidate 2012 Illinois General Election
CANDIDATE
Steven Leopoldo
CANDIDATE FOR THE OFFICE OF
Forest Preserve District of Dupage County, Dist. 3
CANDIDATE PARTY
Democratic
ELECTION
November 6, 2012 Illinois General Election
CANDIDATE STATEMENT
Leopoldo is running for DuPage Forest Preserve to save our preserves by fighting against waste, fraud, and abuse in our local government. Greater accountability and transparency can fix these problems. Taxpayers should trust that their hard-earned dollars are going into real, valuable services.
His mission is to enact real ethics reforms, restore sustainable land management practices, and end the use of aggressive eminent domain.
CANDIDATE WEBSITE
ORGANIZATION ENDORSEMENTS
River Prairie Group
Illinois Sierra Club
BIOGRAPHICAL INFO
Steve is the vice president of a public opinion research firm based in DuPage County, a precinct committeeperson in Downers Grove Township, the vice president of his homeowners association in Westmont, and a full-time Dad. The League of Conservation Voters helped Steven to become aware of the connection between the environment and politics. In 2004, he canvassed Central Florida with them to raise awareness about mercury pollution from coal power plants and other air and water quality issues. His team reached tens of thousands voters and recruited over twenty-five hundred passionate volunteers. Closer to home, Steven worked with the Environmental Policy and Law Center to promote Chicagoâs Clean Air Ordinance. The ordinance targets the antiquated Fisk and Crawford power plants, located in densely populated urban areas of the City. Reducing emissions from these plants will not only dramatically help those living within their fall-zones, but will benefit air quality throughout the region. He also conducted the research that led to the Chicago and Illinois indoor Smoke Free laws, public policy that has saved countless lives since its passage. Just to the west of DuPage, Steven have promoted wind energy in Lee and DeKalb counties to lay the groundwork for constructing a 151-turbine wind energy farm with NextEra Energy Resources. This installation is producing clean energy, helping to create domestic energy security, and generating significant tax revenues. He has also worked with wind farm developers throughout the nation and have working knowledge of renewables at the distributed and utility-scale. Taxpayers should trust that their hard-earned dollars are going into real, valuable services. As Commissioner, Leopoldo will ensure contracts are competitively bid and end sweetheart deals for campaign donors. Meetings will be held when working people can attend and they will be recorded and accessible online for all to view. He will also ensure the district never spends a dime writing an elected officialâs name on a sign. Leopoldo will bring serious management and fiscal responsibility to the District while protecting and preserving DuPageâs natural lands for our health, education, and recreation.
PRESS ARTICLES
DuPage forest officials seek feedback on finances
- DuPage County Forest Preserve officials unveiled plans Tuesday that could lead to improvements at preserves, but also could result in a tax increase. Because interest rates have dropped, the forest preserve commission plans to refinance $38 million in debt that would result in saving $2 million. Instead, the District chose to increase your debt by $4 million.
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VIDEO
How fast is $4 million added to our debt?
- 2/21/2012 - The DuPage Forest Preserve District debt increase meeting where cashed-out on a bond refinancing and instead of saving taxpayers, decided to add to our debt by four million dollars. The session for public comment was allowed only after the vote had passed.
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