The following is a press release from the Bolingbrook United Party.

Two years ago, a small group of residents met to discuss local issues, government waste and the need for the Village of Bolingbrook to end its history of political elitism which forbids individuals from any real participation in local government and promoted pay to play politics. In addition to their concern over the notable shortfalls of local government, they wanted to further prosperity within the community as a whole, not just for the well connected. As a result of that meeting the Bolingbrook United political party was formed and its first candidate, Bob Jaskiewicz was later elected to the village board in April of 2017.

Despite being outspent by their opponents by more than a 2 to 1 margin and existing for only a few months before the 2017 election, Bolingbrook United came within less than 1⁄2 of 1% of the votes needed to also win the contest for mayor, village clerk, and another village trustee position. This strong showing from what was a grassroots effort confirmed that village residents are no longer satisfied by the status quo.

Since the 2017 municipal election, Bolingbrook United has continued to grow in its membership, visibility, and leadership in Bolingbrook. As Bolingbrook United looks towards the 2019 municipal election, on the evening of September 12, 2019, the group announced its intended slate of candidates for a range of local governmental bodies. Those candidates and some basic information about each are found at the bottom of this press release.

Over the coming weeks and months, Bolingbrook United’s candidates will start gathering petitions for signatures to appear on the ballot and hosting various campaign events between now and election day, April 2, 2019.

To join Bolingbrook United’s efforts, become a volunteer, help collect signatures or for additional information please contact the party through any of its candidates or Joe Giamanco via [email protected]. Be sure to “like” the Bolingbrook United Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bolingbrookunited to follow the campaign.

Candidates for Village Trustee:

Ajaz Gill – a 30 year resident of Bolingbrook, Ajaz was born in Pakistan where he met his wife Rizwana and started his own business. Ajaz moved to Bolingbrook in 1989 and started Midwest Draperies in 1990. Ajaz and his wife are the parents of three sons, all who received their education within the Valley View 365U School System. He leads his life by his core values of hard work, respect, and loyalty. He is an active member in the local Mosque and considered a leader by the congregation. Ajaz joined Bolingbrook United because he recognized the group’s ability and desire to unite us all in the party’s support for a common cause for equality, regardless of gender, race, faith and it celebrated that which makes us all a unique, the fabric of this diverse country. Ajaz believes that the skills that he has learned as a business owner and as a leader at the Mosque, will allow him to work on issues key to Bolingbrook and what is best for its residents.

Jaime Olson – is a 12-year resident of Bolingbrook, the mother to two fabulous children and is married to Bolingbrook attorney Joe Giamanco. Jaime moved to Bolingbrook in 2006 to laydown roots and start a family. Jaime graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in history (with honors) and political science and received her Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law in 2002. Jaime has worked as an administrative law judge, attorney, a manager and a specialist in labor and employee relations. Jaime currently serves as the Labor Relations Officer for the General Services Administration in Chicago. Since moving to Bolingbrook, Jaime has been active in the community, serving as a Girl Scout leader, a soccer coach with the Bolingbrook Soccer club, the vice president of the Illinois Democratic Women of Will County, and member of the marketing committee for local charity Power Connection. Jaime has also been involved in and assisted with PTA, Bolingbrook Pride, and her neighborhood Home Owners Association and provided free legal assistance to our community during Lawyers in the Library inaugural event. She is also the founder and primary contributor to the Facebook group “Bolingbrook Events”. Jaime wants to help make our community better and ensure that our children are not saddled with the debt created by the current administration. Jaime believes her desire to help others, as well as her work and civic experience, have provided her with the knowledge and experience necessary to be a good Trustee.

Terri Ransom – A 19-year resident of Bolingbrook, Terri is the newly appointed DuPage Township Democrat’s Precinct Captain for Precinct 31, current Board
more than 25 years of Information Technology experience in the financial industry, most recently in Cyber Security. She is the member of the Black History Awareness Club, council member for the Naperville Boys and Girls Club, and volunteer for Moms Demand Action. She is also the former business owner of Computertots and Computer Explorers, past treasurer of Panther Sports Club, and a former Girl
Scout troop leader. Terri is married to Michael, and they have two children — a college freshman and a recent college graduate. Terri is running for Village Trustee for the same reasons she ran in
2017, to stand up and fight for Bolingbrook and deliver prosperity for all by returning the power
back to the residents.

Candidates for Valley View 365U School Board:

Sandra Carlson – Sandra, a 23-year resident of Bolingbrook, was born in Chicago and has lived in five different communities in Illinois. She moved to Bolingbrook when her husband Paul accepted the call to be the pastor at New Life Lutheran Church. The Carlson’s brought three sons and a dog with them to Bolingbrook. The family has grown and now includes three fabulous daughters in law and two grandchildren, AJ and Hope. Sandra is a licensed clinical professional counselor. She earned a master’s degree in counseling from Northern Illinois University in 1994. She earned her Ed.D in counseling in 2010 from NIU. Since the year 2000, Sandra has operated a counseling practice in Bolingbrook and has been privileged to serve the community ever since. Sandra’s love of children makes her a passionate advocate for quality education and as a mental health counselor, she understands the challenges our children face in the 21st century. She believes that schools are crucial to the health and wellbeing of children, and the communities they live in. Sandra wants to serve on the school board as she believes that education saves lives, as it saved hers.

Charlotte Droogan – a 54-year resident of Bolingbrook, Charlotte is essentially a founding citizen as she’s lived here longer than Bolingbrook has even existed as a legal entity. Charlotte has a master’s in counseling and is a retired third-grade teacher who served the families of the Valley View School District for thirty years. After retirement, she continued the job she loved as a substitute teacher for another ten years. Her love for kids and the people who teach them inspired Charlotte to run for the school board. Her background in teaching and as a longtime resident of the community make her uniquely qualified for the position. Charlotte wants to enhance the programs we already have for our students and brings to the table new ideas about how to further enrich the lives of children through education.

Mustafa Syed – a 15-year resident of Bolingbrook, Mustafa has been married for 25 years and has two children. He has a master’s in business administration and bachelors in commerce. He has more than 15 years of experience in Information Technology (IT) in software development, testing, and implementation. Presently working as IT consultant and Project Manager. Mustafa has extensively traveled the world and is an avid follower of world politics. His interest includes reading gardening, interiors, sports and community involvement. He believes that schools have a very strong and direct impact every resident of Bolingbrook village, including those without children as school ratings affect home values, not just the lives of our children. Mustafa wants to work towards improving Valley View 365U’s overall ratings to benefit not only our children but also taxpayers and homeowners.

Fountaindale Library Board of Trustees

Otis Gatlin – is a 13-year resident of Bolingbrook grew up in Chicago and graduated from Lane Tech College Prep. Otis has 3 kids, 2 daughters, and 1 son. Otis works for Chase Bank as a mortgage underwriter and attended college at Wilbur Wright College. His hobbies include reading, traveling and watching the NBA and NFL. Otis is running for Library Board because he wants to make the Library more transparent and accessible to all Bolingbrook citizens. As a resident Otis has attended several Library Board meetings and has been disappointed to see some board members repeatedly fail to regularly attend meetings or arrive on time and believes this is a disservice to our residents.

Ryan Harter – is an 8-year resident of Bolingbrook. Ryan and his wife, Sara, moved to Bolingbrook in 2011; their son, Milo, was born in 2017. Ryan is part of a small mobile app business and enjoys sharing his expertise with the community by supporting local tech events. He’s always enjoyed being a part of the community and wants to do his part to contribute to the wonderful resource that is the Fountaindale Library. Until moving to Bolingbrook Ryan wasn’t fully aware of everything that a library could be. He believes that the library is more than a collection of books and movies, it serves an important role as a place to gather, share ideas, and learn. Because of this, as a trustee, Ryan’s goal is to raise awareness for our incredible library and everything it has to offer.

Deb Savage – is a 12-year resident of Bolingbrook with a bachelor’s & masters in nursing & administration. Currently, she serves the community as an elected Will Co Regional School Board Trustee. She is a member of Chamberlain University’s national library & information resources committee and is the former head of the library committee on the Addison campus. Deb wants more residents in Bolingbrook to know all of the terrific resources the library has and how to access them. She wants to expand library resources, services, and events; and to ensure taxpayer dollars are being used wisely and that library decisions are evidence-based in the best interest for all Bolingbrook residents.

Park District Board

Saud Gazanfer – is a 15-year resident of Bolingbrook, is married to Subuhi Humera, a physician at Advocate Good Smartian Hospital, and has two children. A self-described techie, entrepreneur, environmentalist, and coffee lover, Saud is currently employed as a Senior Software Engineer. Saud is running for Park District Board as he wants to modernize the existing park district infrastructure as well as promote fiscal responsibility by cutting the losses from loss generating programs. He wants to market the facilities aggressively by increasing the social media footprint to generate business and resident usage as well as reaching out to more communities with the park district facilities to ensure maximum participation of residents. In addition, Saud wants to encourage and promote more family and senior citizen programs and special programs for physically challenged residents.
For more information about this press release contact: Joe Giamanco of Bolingbrook United, at 773-354-8909 or [email protected].