SUPERVISOR CAUSING MENTAL HEALTH BOARD GRIDLOCK
Dundee Township government is a trainwreck. In 2025 voters elected Shefali Shah as supervisor. Her campaign literature said she was “committed to listening, to serving and to making a positive impact.”
Turns out, not so much.
Listening. Over the last months Supervisor Shah has been told repeatedly to appoint qualified candidates to the township mental health board. She’s been told that by residents. By mental health board members. By the township board.
The dictionary defines “listening” as “responding to advice.” But Supervisor Shah has done the opposite. Month after month, her unqualified nominees are unanimously voted down. She isn’t listening.
Serving. Supervisor Shah was elected to public service. She said she’d “improve mental health service programs” in Dundee Township. The dictionary defines “serving” as “helping people.” But Supervisor Shah has done the opposite. She has stopped the mental health board from functioning. It can’t award grands and pay service providers. She isn’t serving.
Making a positive impact. The dictionary defines this as improving situations. Meeting needs. Bringing people together. Solving problems. But Supervisor Shah has done the opposite. She’s added to division and distrust to local government. She’s defied the will of voters, who support the mental health board. She isn’t making a positive impact.
Political writer Jim Wallis says that “when power becomes the goal over service, self-interest over public interest, winning over compromise and personal narcissism over shared benefit, we are in deep trouble.”
When I supported Supervisor Shah, that’s not what I voted for. But she can still keep her promises. I hope she does. And I’m grateful to the township board for being a check on her autocratic behavior.
James Gould, Carpentersville
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