Editor’s note: This is one in a series of stories looking at races in the Aurora area in the Nov. 3 election.
The race for the Kane County Board seat in District 4 in the November election features Democrat Mavis Bates running against Republican Tracy Miller.
Both candidates are seeking a position on the board for the first time. Bates defeated incumbent Angela Clay Thomas in the primary election, while Miller was unopposed in the GOP primary.
Bates, 72, of Aurora, said she has been active in the community in a number of ways working with GreenFest, the Fox Valley Park District and Kiwanis and said that three big issues currently impacting the district are health care, jobs and the environment.
“We need more education in light of COVID and I see that as a big challenge,” Bates said. “People have to mask up to open up, and we need to protect our children as well as minority people of color who seem to be more effected. It’s terrible this has become a political issue when it’s a scientific and medical fact.”
Bates also said that “getting good jobs here in Kane County, despite the pandemic” is important as well as getting people more involved with the environment.
If elected, Bates said she would like to champion a number of causes including support for families and small businesses.
“As I knock on doors, I have talked with people who say they don’t have enough food as well as others who are overdue with their utility bills and we can’t let families fall through during these rough times,” Bates said. “We also need to have jobs for people that are COVID-proof, including small businesses, which helps everyone.”
Bates said that homeowners currently are having trouble with their budgets and that people still need to “have the services that are necessary.”
Miller, 55, who also lives in Aurora, believes the district currently faces many challenges ranging from the economy to concerns about rising drug use and suicide and the burden of taxes.
“The number one thing people in the district as well as Illinois are concerned about is taxes and that we have been taxed enough already,” Miller said.
Miller said that in light of COVID, the economy has been impacted and “there are concerns about jobs in light of the shutdown” which she thinks is also contributing to the rise in opioid use and suicides.
If elected, Miller said she has her eye on a number of projects in addition to confronting the current pandemic.
“I’d like to look at the retainer or barrier walls along Orchard Road from Prairie to Galena and even as far as Indian Trail,” she said. “The city tried to provide a solution there but hasn’t done a good job.”
Storm water management also needs to be addressed, Miller said.
More COVID education is necessary, she said, regarding “the recovery rate versus the number of cases.”
“We also need to remember the needs of those with mental health (issues)” and the homeless, she said.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
