With three candidates — former Mayor Sam Cunningham, Miguel Rivera and Ald. Keith Turner, 6th Ward — having announced their plans to run to be Waukegan’s next chief executive, incumbent Mayor Ann Taylor is making her reelection bid official.
Taylor, the city’s first woman mayor, planned to announce her official reelection campaign Tuesday on social media in her effort to become the city’s first mayor to be reelected to a second term in 28 years.
Since former Mayor Bill Durkin was reelected in 1997, Waukegan voters chose a series of six one-term mayors through 2021, when they elected Taylor, according to the Lake County clerk’s records.
Both Turner and Taylor said they plan to run as independents in the general election next April. Rivera and Cunningham will compete in the Democratic primary in February for their party’s nomination. No Republican has announced plans to run for the office.
Proud of increasing the city’s revenue approximately $32 million without hiking property taxes the past three years, Taylor said she wants to continue what she considers a good stewardship of the city. Four years is not sufficient to achieve long-term goals, she said.
“What we are doing is working, and it’s a perfect time to keep going,” Taylor said. “We’ve opened the door to a capital improvement plan. We’ve put more police officers on the street. You can’t have a five-year plan when you elect a new mayor every four years.”
With the city on an even footing, Taylor said she wants to accelerate a capital improvement effort which includes street repairs, continuing replacement of lead pipes and upgrading a police station which has been relatively untouched since 1961. Business development is on her agenda as well.
When Cunningham, the city’s first black mayor, announced his candidacy in November, he said he had “unfinished business” from his term in office. He oversaw a comprehensive plan and improvements to the water plant which he hoped to make a revenue source.
Sam Cunningham. (Photo courtesy of Cunningham campaign)
“We want to be the supplier of water to other cities,” Cunningham said. “We had a comprehensive plan in place. To manage a comprehensive plan, you need a mayor in office for two terms.
Within less than a year in office, Cunningham’s focus had to shift to helping the city deal with the public health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic as businesses and schools shuttered. City Hall had to operate differently.
“It allowed me to see the true strength of Waukegan as we established partnerships with state, county and federal governments,” he said. “We saw the human side of so many people as we helped them through that.”
Finishing the first year of his second four-year term on the City Council, Turner said he is seeking the mayor’s office because he is concerned about the lack of attention to public safety and a city that is not sufficiently business-friendly.
Keith Turner (Photo courtesy of Turner campaign)
“It’s not just about violent crime but traffic safety, too,” Turner said. “There’s excessive speeding and reckless driving. There are continuing car thefts and vandalism. We need more protective measures.”
Turner said the key to motivating economic development is reducing the number of obstacles an individual faces to continue operating or starting a business. He also does not want to see an increase in taxes.
A one-time city building inspector who now plies his skills elsewhere, Rivera ran for mayor in 2021 and is making another attempt for the city’s highest elected office. Like Turner, his focus is on crime and the difficulties he said companies face doing business in the city.
Miguel Rivera (Photo courtesy of Rivera campaign)
“We have major crimes here, and it’s getting worse,” Rivera said. “It’s hard for businesses to get a license and it’s too expensive. Doing construction is too difficult.”
