DuPage County Board member Sheila Rutledge to step down in August
Rutledge's resignation will be effective upon the adjournment of the Aug. 26 county board meeting, according to a news release from the county.
Rutledge, who has represented District 6 on county board since 2018, was elected supervisor of Winfield Township in April. Winfield Township is located in DuPage County and comprises most of West Chicago, WInfield and Warrenville, as well as small sections of Wheaton, Naperville, Aurora and Batavia.
Reached over the phone, Rutledge said she loves her work on the county board but decided that her focus should be on Winfield Township. When she vied for the supervisor position earlier this spring, Rutledge had always intended on stepping down but anticipated an overlap between the two roles to see through several county projects, she said.
In a statement, DuPage County Board Chair Deb Conroy said that she was notified Tuesday of Rutledge's impending resignation.
'(Rutledge's) collegial approach and dedication to the residents of District 6 is to be commended,' Conroy said. 'We thank Member Rutledge for her service and wish her well as she focuses on her new role as Winfield Township supervisor.'
Rutledge said she will 'always be grateful' for the time she spent as a board member. The position 'created a new life' for Rutledge after her husband died in 2018, she said.
'Widowhood demands a new life,' she said. 'The county board was my vehicle for that. … It was a wonderful, wonderful experience.'
Rutledge's term was due to expire in December 2026. Her vacant seat will be filled by Conroy with the advice and consent of the board, according to the county. The new appointee must be a Democrat, the county said.
District 6 residents interested in seeking appointment to the board can email a resume and letter of no more than 300 words outlining their interest to Conroy at chair@dupagecounty.gov. The deadline for submission is 4:30 p.m. June 20.
News of Rutledge stepping down comes after Naperville Democrats Sadia Covert and Dawn DeSart confirmed earlier this month that they will be vying to keep their District 5 board seats in next year's midterm elections.
Naperville City Councilman Ian Holzhauer has also announced that he will be challenging Covert for a four-year seat on the board.
tkenny@chicagotribune.com
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Newsom Files Request for Info on Trump Admin Use of Military
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. California Governor Gavin Newsom is filing a formal request for information on the current administrations use of military and federal law enforcement, the Democrat said in a post on X Sunday. In the post, Newsom said the action by the Donald Trump administration to use the military is meant to "intimidate." "I'm filing a formal request for information about the Trump Administration's action and role in directing federal law enforcement and military personnel in a recent operation intended to intimidate those defending a fair electoral process," Newsom said in the post, adding, "Trump's use of the military and federal law enforcement to try to intimidate his political opponents is yet another dangerous step towards authoritarianism." "This is an attempt to advance a playbook from the despots he admires in Russia and North Korea," the governor concluded. Newsom's office also issued a press release regarding the move, saying the president is using the troops as his "personal police force and political pawns." The democratic governor has been critical of several of Trump's policies and vocal about his feelings. Within the last week, Newsom accused the President of "bending his knee" to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Newsweek previously reported. Newsweek has reached out to the White House for comment via email during non-working hours Sunday. This is a breaking news story. Updates to come.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump shares First Lady Melania's letter to Putin as he rages over coverage of Alaska summit
President Donald Trump has posted the full letter from First Lady Melania that he hand-delivered to Russia's Vladimir Putin at Friday's summit in Alaska regarding the fate of the Ukraine war. In the letter, which Putin reportedly read 'immediately' in front of delegates at the summit, the first lady urged the Russian leader to remember the innocence of the children caught in the midst of the fighting. 'In protecting the innocence of these children, you will do more than serve Russia alone — you serve humanity itself,' the letter reads. 'Such a bold idea transcends all human division, and you, Mr. Putin, are fit to implement this vision with the stroke of the pen today. It is time.' The president revealed the letter on Truth Social, after making multiple posts criticizing reaction from the media and Democrats to the Alaska summit, which did not result in a deal to end the Ukraine war. Senator Chris Murphy, the ranking Democratic member of the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on European security cooperation, said the VIP welcome for Putin gave the Russian 'everything he wanted' and was an 'embarrassment for the United States.' "It's incredible how the Fake News violently distorts the TRUTH when it comes to me," Trump wrote in an earlier post. "There is NOTHING I can say or do that would lead them to write or report honestly about me." "If I got Russia to give up Moscow as part of the Deal, the Fake News, and their PARTNER, the Radical Left Democrats, would say I made a terrible mistake and a very bad deal,' he wrote in another. Following the Alaska summit, both Trump and Putin claimed the controversial meeting had been 'productive' and a 'success,' though little concrete information has emerged about what the two leaders discussed behind closed doors. 'We had an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to,' Trump told reporters. 'There are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant. One is probably the most significant, but we have a very good chance of getting there. We didn't get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there.' Speaking to Fox News's Sean Hannity after the summit, Trump said both Putin and Zelensky would like him to be present at a potential second meeting. 'They both want me there, and I'll be there,' he said. On Sunday, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Putin agreed to allow the U.S. and its European allies to offer Ukraine a NATO-like security guarantee. 'We were able to win the following concession: That the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in Nato," Witkoff told CNN. The reported concession 'was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that,' Witkoff added, calling the step 'game-changing.' The envoy also signaled that the fate of the occupied Donbas region, which Putin reportedly demands Ukraine cede to Russia to end the invasion, will be a major topic during continued discussions around ending the war. Following Trump's meeting with Putin, European leaders head to Washington Monday for continued talks with the president. The European delegation includes Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, the UK's Sir Keir Starmer, France's Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Friedrich Merz, Finland's Alexander Stubb, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and NATO chief Mark Rutte.
Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Black mayors of cities Trump decries as ‘lawless' tout significant declines in violent crimes
'It gives us an opportunity to say we need to amplify our voices to confront the rhetoric that crime is just running rampant around major US cities. It's just not true,' said Van Johnson, mayor of Savannah, Ga., and president of the African American Mayors Association. 'It's not supported by any evidence or statistics whatsoever.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up After deploying the first of 800 National Guard members to Washington, the Republican president is setting his sights on other cities including Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Oakland, Calif., calling them crime-ridden and 'horribly run.' One thing they all have in common: They're led by Black mayors. Advertisement 'It was not lost on any member of our organization that the mayors either were Black or perceived to be Democrats,' Johnson said. 'And that's unfortunate. For mayors, we play with whoever's on the field.' Advertisement The federal government's actions have heightened some of the mayors' desires to champion the strategies used to help make their cities safer. Trump argued that federal law enforcement had to step in after a prominent employee of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was attacked in an attempted carjacking. He also pointed to homeless encampments, graffiti, and potholes as evidence of Washington 'getting worse.' However statistics published by Washington's Metropolitan Police contradict the president and show Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson scoffed at Trump's remarks, hailing the city's 'historic progress driving down homicides by more than 30 percent and shootings by almost 40 percent in the last year alone.' Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles, where homicides fell 14 percent between 2023 and 2024, called the federal takeover nothing but a performative 'power grab.' In Baltimore, officials say they have seen historic decreases in homicides and nonfatal shootings this year, and those have been on the decline since 2022, according to the city's public safety data dashboard. Carjackings were down 20 percent in 2023, and other major crimes fell in 2024. Only burglaries have climbed slightly. The lower crime rates are attributed to tackling violence with a 'public health' approach, city officials say. In 2021, under Mayor Brandon Scott, Baltimore created a Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan that called for more investment in community violence intervention, more services for crime victims, and other initiatives. Scott accused Trump of exploiting crime as a 'wedge issue and dog whistle' rather than caring about curbing violence. 'He has actively undermined efforts that are making a difference saving lives in cities across the country in favor of militarized policing of Black communities,' Scott said via email. Advertisement The Democratic mayor pointed out that the Justice Department has slashed over $1 million in funding this year that would have gone toward community antiviolence measures. He vowed to keep on making headway, regardless. 'We will continue to closely work with our regional federal law enforcement agencies, who have been great partners, and will do everything in our power to continue the progress despite the roadblocks this administration attempts to implement,' Scott said. Just last week Oakland officials touted significant decreases in crime in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2024, including a 21 percent drop in homicides and a 29 percent decrease in all violent crime, according to the midyear report by the Major Cities Chiefs Association. Officials credited collaborations with community organizations and crisis response services through the city's Department of Violence Prevention, established in 2017. 'These results show that we're on the right track,' Mayor Barbara Lee said at a news conference. 'We're going to keep building on this progress with the same comprehensive approach that got us here.' After Trump gave his assessment of Oakland last week, she rejected it as 'fearmongering.' Social justice advocates agree that crime has gone down and say Trump is perpetuating exaggerated perceptions that have long plagued Oakland. Nicole Lee, executive director of Urban Peace Movement, an Oakland-based organization that focuses on empowering communities of color and young people through initiatives such as leadership training and assistance to victims of gun violence, said much credit for the gains on lower crime rates is due to community groups. 'We really want to acknowledge all of the hard work that our network of community partners and community organizations have been doing over the past couple of years coming out of the pandemic to really create real community safety,' Lee said. 'The things we are doing are working.' Advertisement She worries that an intervention by military forces would undermine that progress. 'It creates kind of an environment of fear in our community,' Lee said. In Washington, agents from multiple federal agencies, National Guard members and even the United States Park Police have been seen Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson Savannah's Johnson said he is all for partnering with the federal government, but troops on city streets is not what he envisioned. Instead, cities need federal assistance for things like multistate investigation and fighting problems such as gun trafficking, and cybercrimes. 'I'm a former law enforcement officer. There is a different skill set that is used for municipal law enforcement agencies than the military,' Johnson said. There has also been speculation that federal intervention could entail curfews for young people. But that would do more harm, Nicole Lee said, disproportionately affecting young people of color and wrongfully assuming that youths are the main instigators of violence. 'If you're a young person, basically you can be cited, criminalized, simply for being outside after certain hours,' Lee said. 'Not only does that not solve anything in regard to violence and crime, it puts young people in the crosshairs of the criminal justice system.' Advertisement For now, Johnson said, the mayors are watching their counterpart in Washington, Muriel Bowser, closely to see how she navigates the unprecedented federal intervention. She has been Johnson praised Bowser for carrying on with dignity and grace. 'Black mayors are resilient. We are intrinsically children of struggle,' Johnson said. 'We learn to adapt quickly, and I believe that we will and we are.'
