Name: Syed Hussain

What office are you seeking: DuPage County Board, District 4

What is your political party?

What is your current age? 51

Occupation and employer: Strategy and Product Consultant, self-employed

What offices, if any, have you previously held? Appointed to Wheaton Historic Commission, elected as Vice Chair

City: Wheaton IL

Campaign website: www.Vote4Syed.com

Education: MBA & BA Chemistry

Community involvement: Milton Township CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), Member

IMMC, Board Chair

Sudanese American Charity, Board Member

Chi-Care, Volunteer

Marital status/Immediate family: Wife & 3 Children

What are your top three priorities for this district?

I’m running on a platform of humanity, bringing decency and universal values back into politics, and the term “Humanitician” is reflective of this movement towards the middle.

From here I have three priorities-- of Unity, Public Service, and Growth:

The Unity is to bring neighbors and leaders together to collaborate and improve communication for the good of everyone. For example we can bring fresh produce from Community gardens into local food pantries and alleviate affordability and hunger at the local level. Rather than various entities handling aspects of a problem like a pedestrian overpass at a busy intersection, County Board can convene municipalities, partners, and other agencies to holistically work through the intricacies of a transportation solution that’s beneficial to all parties.

The Service component is to tie our offerings to actual needs and measure success using the latest tools available to ensure initiatives are successful. Wrapping new technologies and improving processes will inflect our ability to care for residents.

Of course Growth in our business sector is critical for job creation, revenue expansion, and a robust economy. Good governance includes expedited processes, harnessing AI and multiple data sources smartly to identify opportunities in tandem with the commercial sectors, and properly incentivizing industries and smaller players to invest locally.

Should the DuPage County Board further explore pursuing home-rule authority?

Within DuPage there are a number of municipalities already operating in this paradigm. Pursuing exploration is always worthwhile, until enough data is gathered in order to make a decision. If a decision is reached to stop pursuing, it should be accompanied by a timeline to revisit and define what factors led to the decision to shelve it.

What steps should the county take to continue its efforts to meet affordable housing needs?

Yes, increasing housing stock is crucial over the long-term to attract diversity, talent, and level the tax load. In conversations, I’ve found that “affordable” creates controversy, so first it should be clearly defined. As well, we need to define what is attainable, achievable, and the levers available. From here the county should continue exploring options to improve housing so a broader swath of the population can reside in the county, availing the benefits and sharing in the burdens of this opportunity.

What additional steps should the county take to assist social service agencies in their efforts to reduce food insecurity and homelessness?

County has oversight responsibility so first the agencies’ operations and efficacy should be reviewed and compared transparently amongst all providers, while also reviewing service levels to demand. For example, we’re heard that halal meat availability is far too low in some townships, so matching needs to service will inherently identify opportunities to scale services. These can then be shared with partners to alleviate need.

What goals, specifically, would you like to see the Sustainable DuPage initiative achieve?

Have we measured the efficacy and impact of each of the programs and set goals and established strategic plans and roadmaps? How robust and mature are our planning cycles and how well are they understood? What is the broader knowledge level and understanding by the recipient / business community, and how well do they grasp the tangible and intangible benefits? These are some of the goals I’d start with, ie to operationalize the initiative through excellence in its components.

In what ways can the county continue to improve its transportation initiatives?

I’m not aware of a broad, holistic set of plans to improve transportation. Having this structure in place will help rank and improve reviews of the initiatives. Including and/ or expanding renewable methods of power, and enhancing self-service options will empower most users and then the exceptions can be understood and handled more robustly.

What improvements/changes do you support within the DuPage County Sheriff’s office, including protocols at the correctional facility?

I recently completed the Sheriff’s Citizen’s Police Academy 10-week course and am full of ideas and initiatives. These range from deputy deployment and procedures at the correctional facility, to more proactively addressing recidivism with Mr. Barry’s projects and improving training simulations for all scenarios.

What is your stance on solar energy facilities or data centers on agricultural land? Does the risk of lawsuits factor into your stance? What about battery storage?

We need to examine agricultural land to determine if its usage is being optimized in an age when pesiticides, bioengineering and fertilizers are causing their own challenges - and when hydroponics, roof gardens, and other options have strong yield ratios. Similarly, building on land eliminates it completely, and we need to examine the optimal uses for the limited open land available. If we do this transparently and thoughtfully, we become stewards of the people and reduce the risks associated with lawsuits, and wasted efforts and pathways.