Our Community, My Commitment
Lake County announced this afternoon that there will be drop boxes inside early voting sites beginning on Monday, March 22 for this election. This is new information since I sent my email earlier today.
According to Lake County’s press release, “Voters may simply walk in with their masks and place their Vote by Mail ballot in any of these Drop Boxes located at each Early Voting site.” There are currently not any external drop boxes planned for this election.
Highland Park’s spring trash collection days are scheduled for April 24, May 1, 8 and 15. If you have a bulky item under 50 pounds, you can place it next to your trash cart for pick up on your regular trash collection day rather than waiting for spring clean up.
Here are some options for proper disposal of certain items, and ideas to help keep things that are still usable out of the landfill:
Appliances: Call Lakeshore Recycling Systems at 773.685.8811 or email them to schedule pick up. There is a charge of $40 per item.
Arts and Crafts supplies: donate them to the Brushwood Art Supply Exchange.
Bicycles: Donate to Working Bikes.
Electronics: Leave one large, or several small electronics at the curb on your first trash pick up day of the month or drop off at the City’s Recycling Center (see Styrofoam for hours).
Household Chemical Waste: The SWALCO website has a schedule of Household Chemical Waste drop off events.
Medication: Drop them off anytime in the disposal box at the HP Police Station, 1677 Old Deerfield Road. Details are here.
Recyclables: Put these out on your regular trash day.
Shoes: Paired shoes (tie or rubber band together) can be dropped off at the City’s Recycling Center. 1180 Half Day Road, from 7 am – 1 pm any Tuesday or the first Saturday of the month. Details are here.
Styrofoam: Drop off at the City’s Recycling Center. 1180 Half Day Road, from 7 am – 1 pm any Tuesday or the first Saturday of the month. Details are here.
Textiles: Place in a sealed plastic bag and drop off anytime in one of the collection boxes located at the City’s Recycling Center or the Highland Park Metra Station (east of tracks and south of station).
Usable items: Donate to charity or use the Highland Park-Highwood Freebox page on Facebook to get unwanted but usable items to others in the community.
Learn more about how to recycle or dispose of unusual items here and here. Here are some creative repurposing ideas for spring.
The League of Women Voters is holding a candidate forum on March 21 at 1 pm. Join this virtual event to learn more about the views of the candidates running for local office in Highland Park. Register for the zoom event and submit your questions here. You can learn more about my views on issues impacting Highland Park in the newsletter archive, and this post on the HP Patch.
Lake County will begin sending mail ballots in early March. If you plan to vote by mail, you may request that a mail ballot be sent to you by filling out a request on the Lake County website. Further details and links are here.
Verify your voter registration and get information about how to register here. If you have recently moved to Highland Park, or have friends or family who will turn 18 before April 6, there’s still time to register. If you’d prefer to complete your voter registration at an outdoor location in Highland Park, let me know and I will connect you with a Deputy Voter Registrar who can help.
Transportation is currently the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the US. Electric and hybrid vehicles are better for the environment, and also cost less over their lifetime than gas powered cars. Electric vehicles require almost no maintenance, and the cost of electricity is less than the cost of gas. You can compare the ownership costs of different vehicles here to see how much money you can save with a more efficient vehicle.
When the City purchases new vehicles, I have asked staff to calculate the total cost of ownership and savings for cleaner models. As a result, the City has added hybrid and electric cars to the fleet and put in place a Sustainable Vehicle Policy to guide future purchases. At the February 8 City Council meeting, we approved the purchase of 4 new hybrid vehicles for the Police Department fleet. Each of these vehicles will save the City over $4,000 in gas costs annually, making up for the additional upfront cost in under a year. Purchasing sustainable vehicles saves the City money while reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
I am proud of my role in greening the City Fleet, but there is more work to be done. In 2021, I am working to add Electric Vehicle (EV) readiness to our building code, following the lead of Chicago and other cities around the country. Wiring new buildings at the time of construction costs a fraction of retrofitting later, thereby saving money for residents. As more auto manufacturers announce the shift to electric vehicles, we should make sure that new construction in Highland Park is ready for Electric Vehicle charging.
Illinois has begun vaccinating people over age 65, while continuing with vaccinations for health care workers and nursing home residents. You can sign up now through the Lake County Health Department to be notified when it’s your turn to get the Covid vaccine. They will ask your age and risk factors so they can let you know when it’s time to make an appointment. If you have friends or family in Cook County, they can sign up here to receive updates on vaccine availability and scheduling. Pharmacies and health care systems will also be distributing vaccines, so you may want to contact your pharmacy and your doctor’s office to make sure you are on their lists as well. The State of Illinois has this site where you can find vaccine locations.
There are approximately 3 million additional people eligible for the vaccine in Illinois as of this week, so it will take some time to get vaccines to everyone who wants them. Please be patient and continue taking precautions — wear a mask when leaving your home, maintain a physical distance of at least 6 feet from people of outside of your household, and stay home if you are sick.
The January 25 City Council agenda includes the 2021 flower planting contract. I successfully advocated to include a provision that plants purchased be free of neonicinoid pesticides, which makes them safe for pollinators.
There has been a large increase in fraudulent unemployment claims in recent months. Someone filed a false claim for unemployment in my name late last year, and the same thing happened to my husband this week. You can find out about this in several ways:
If you receive a letter from the State or a debit card from Key Bank, go to this page to report the fraud. Do not call Key Bank or use the debit card. Keep the letter, debit card, and copies of any other documentation in a safe place as you may need this information as you work to resolve the issue.
Check your credit report with Equifax, Transunion and Experian to be sure there is no other fraudulent activity. You may want to put a security freeze on your accounts at the credit bureaus.
As the City Council liaison to trash, I have the opportunity to meet quarterly with our trash hauler, representatives of the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County, and City staff to discuss all things trash. At the most recent meeting, I learned that residential trash and recycling volumes in Highland Park have increased over the past 6 months by about 11%. This makes sense since people are spending more time at home due to the pandemic. Here are some things you can do to help reduce waste and improve recycling:
Plastic recycling has been in the news a lot lately. While some haulers are having trouble with plastics, our waste hauler has markets in the US for all the items they currently accept for recycling. For example, #5 plastics are being made into paint buckets. A list of items that are recyclable in Highland Park is here.
You can sign up now through Lake County to be notified when it’s your turn to get the Covid vaccine. They will ask your age and risk factors so they can let you know when it’s time to make an appointment for your vaccine. Those most at risk will be vaccinated first (health care workers and people in long term care facilities.) It may be awhile until everyone is vaccinated, so please continue to be careful and wear your mask when leaving your home.