Leaving elected office after one four-year term as Waukegan’s mayor and 19 years on the City Council, Sam Cunningham said he had “unfinished business” and is now seeking the Democratic nomination to regain the city’s top elective office.
Miguel A. Rivera, Sr., who lost to Cunningham in the 2021 Democratic primary, is again seeking his party’s nomination in a rerun of the two-candidate contest in which Cunningham received 65.35% of the 2,204 votes cast and Rivera 45.75%.
Voters will decide whether to give Cunningham or Rivera their party’s nomination to become Waukegan’s mayor in the Democratic primary election on Feb. 25, with the winner advancing to what will be a four-way race for the job in the April 1 general election.
After updating the city’s master plan after nearly 40 years, crafting a capital improvement plan and shepherding three applications for an “entertainment center called a casino” through the City Council to the Illinois Gaming Board, Cunningham, 58, had an unexpected challenge.
“I want to continue with the plans we started,” Cunningham said. “We had to put some of them on hold with COVID. I want to rebuild Waukegan. We (started) to rebuild affordable housing, particularly in the public sector. It’s important to me because I lived in public housing.”
Starting to rebuild the city’s water plant during his tenure, Cunningham said he sees it as a way to sell Lake Michigan water to other communities as a revenue source to help keep taxes down.
With a focus on infrastructure as well, Rivera, 55, said he will put a focus on reducing crime and gun violence, as well as bring manufacturing jobs closer to the central city, bring more family-oriented events to town and have an “open door policy” at City Hall.
“I will remove the locks on the elevators, and have access to the mayor’s office and building and zoning,” Rivera said. “I’ll add more detectives to solve the crimes, and create a task force on gun and drug crimes. I want to be proactive rather than reactive.”
Currently a building inspector in a nearby town, Rivera said he spent 16 years doing the same job in Waukegan. He believes he has an intimate knowledge of every department and how they work.
Also serving on the Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 Board of Education for three years, Rivera said he was appointed to fill an unexpired term in 2018 and served until 2021.
Collaborating with other governmental entities to benefit the community, Cunningham said he wants to work with the Waukegan Park District and the Lake County Forest Preserves District to create a mobility trail partially along the lakefront, from the south side of Waukegan to the Lyons Forest Preserve near Highway 41 and Route 173 in Zion.
A piece of the trail puzzle is acquiring the land owned by the Canadian National Railway once used to haul coal to the now-decommissioned NRG electric generating plant. There were negotiations and an agreement during his tenure, but it did not materialize.
Removal of the railroad tracks will also enable another project Cunningham said he intends to pursue — Navy Pier North — by creating an entertainment district at the beach. The area’s success is also dependent on adding 700 to 1,000 residential units in the downtown area.
“Downtown redevelopment ties into the entertainment center at the beach,” Cunningham said. “They go hand-in-hand. We also need a new police station, and a realignment of our current fire stations. It’s all essential to the rebuilding of Waukegan.”
Repairing and rebuilding roads is central to Rivera’s vision. He said it will also help with business development, including putting manufacturing jobs where they once were, including the lakefront. He plans to use grant funds rather than raise taxes.
“We’ll make all repairs of all necessary roads,” Rivera said. “There’s Washington Street and many other neighborhood streets. We’ll look for resources through increased parking and traffic fines, and enforce alternate parking fines.”
After Cunningham or Rivera emerge from the Democratic primary, they will have five weeks to prepare for the April 1 general election against GOP candidate Harold Beadling, a former Fourth Ward alderman, and two independent candidates — Mayor Ann Taylor and Ald. Keith Turner, 6th Ward.
Early voting is underway. People can vote from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Lake County Courthouse & Administration Building in Waukegan through Friday, as well as from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Hours expand on Monday.
For those voting on election day, Feb. 25, Lake County Clerk Anthony Vega said they can now vote at any polling place, not just their assigned location.
