Bridget Gainer
| Bridget Gainer | |
|---|---|
| Website | http://bridgetgainer.com/ |
Bridget Gainer is the Cook County Commissioner for the County’s 10th District, serving since the April 2009. The district includes many of Chicago’s north side neighborhoods. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Commissioner Gainer has led the County Board on issues of vacant/abandoned property, pension reform and the women & children in the public safety system.
Education
Gainer received a bachelor's degree in Political Science and English from the University of Illinois and a M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. She is a Board member of Women Employed, The Center for Economic Progress and St. Gregory's High School.
Political career
Gainer began her political career working as a budget analyst in Chicago's City Hall under Chicago's longest-serving Mayor, Richard M. Daley. She then went on to work for the Park District as the Director of the Lakefront Parks. For the last decade Gainer has been with Aon, a Chicago based insurance broker, where she has focused on pension and healthcare policy as well as risk management in the public sector and private sector.
Commissioner
Gainer was initially appointed to the seat in April 2009 to replace former commissioner Mike Quigley, who won the special election to fill former Congressman Rahm Emanuel's seat when Emanuel left Congress to become President Obama's Chief of Staff. In 2010, Gainer, a Democrat, defeated her Republican opponent in the November 2010 election and won a four-year term.
Her work since she was appointed in 2009 includes:
- voting to repeal a portion of the Cook County Sales Tax, which will stem the tide of shoppers and businesses leaving the County and force County government to run more efficiently and effectively.
- voting to make the Independent Cook County Health and Hospital Systems Board permanent.
- creating funding for HIV and STD testing at the Cook County Jail with the help of AIDS Foundation.
- creating funds for eight additional beds at Haymarket Center so that almost every baby born to a mother in the Cook CountyJail will stay together and receive services.
- creating an independent bureau within the State's Attorney office to allow County litigation to be handled by State's attorneys rather than outside private counsel, saving the county millions of dollars each year.
- working to reform the county lobbying ordinance requiring full transparency in the contracting process as well as, working with housing advocates to address the foreclosure issue in our county by securing funding for foreclosure mediation programs.
Personal life
Bridget Gainer is married and has three children.
References
- Chicago Tribune, "City Hall Veteran to replace Quigley" Hal Dardick, April 12, 2009
- James Warren, "Replacing Quigley on Cook County Board a lesson in Democracy, sort of" Huffington Post April 13, 2009
- Chicago Sun Times (Gainer) "a leader in fight against video poker" October 17, 2010
- The Atlantic (on line version) May 16, 2011 "The Top Challenges facing Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel