28-03-2025
Incumbent North Chicago mayor faces two challengers who think the city needs a change
North Chicago Mayor Leon Rockingham, Jr., is seeking his sixth term leading the city, while two challengers _ Ald. Anthony Coleman, 2nd Ward, and David Hood _ believe it is time for a change.
With 20 years in the mayor's office and three terms as an alderman before that, Rockingham, 70, is immersed in city government. He said the North Chicago is at a precipice of progress and he wants to lead the city through it. Some things take time, and he has had a hand in much of it.
'My vision has never changed,' Rockingham said. 'You always have to concentrate on three things for the people—safety, economic development and infrastructure. If you have those three things, people and businesses will come to North Chicago.'
Coleman, 50, ousted an incumbent City Council member two years ago to start his career in elective office. Since then, he said he has helped push for redoing Foss Park Avenue from downtown North Chicago to the beach.
'It's time to pass the torch,' Coleman said. 'It's time to move the city forward. Sitting in the mayor's seat allows you to help move ahead the entire operation.'
Hood, 57, a longtime community activist who has worked as a security guard at both campuses of Waukegan High School, said he helped develop the Citizen's Advisory Committee while working with the police department in 2012. His candidacy was not his decision.
'It's a calling,' Hood said. 'The Lord called on me to better my city.'
Voters will decide whether Rockingham, a Democrat, Coleman, or Hood, both independents, will be elected mayor of North Chicago on Tuesday to lead the city for the next four years.
Believing the young people are the city's future, Hood said he wants programs to keep them positively engaged and out of trouble, but he also wants those programs to help them develop skills for a good career. For him, the age range is between 18 and 35.
'We need things for youth to stay out of trouble,' Hood said. 'I will work with organizations which can get them apprenticeships. We need to train people for these jobs. The school system can prepare them for good jobs so they stay in the community.'
With the downtown area in his ward, Coleman said he understands it well. He has a vision for improving the area on Sheridan Road from just south of 16th Street and north to Audrey Nixon Blvd. to make it a gathering place for residents and visitors.
'I'd like to see it be like a small Lake Bluff where people can walk around, sit down, or do a little shopping,' Coleman said. 'They should be able to have a cup of coffee or have lunch outside.
Enhancing the downtown area is part of the city's strategic plan, which Rockingham helped shepherd through the City Council on its way to winning the Daniel Burham award in September.
Among its elements, the plan will use the development of the 40-acre Sheridan Crossing area south of downtown and north of Buckley Road with mixed-use residential and commercial buildings. The two will connect with each other by foot and other methods to downtown.
'It ties it all together and is part of the downtown revitalization. There will be places for food and other businesses. It's going to help develop the area along Martin Luther King Drive,' Rockingham said. 'I'd like to see a hotel,' he added as a way for people attending weekly recruit graduations at Naval Station Great Lakes to stay in North Chicago instead of elsewhere.
Joining business development as part of his vision for North Chicago, Rockingham said he has made improvements in public safety and will continue to do more. During his current term, the crime rate has dropped 60%.
'We're using technology like license plate readers so we know if a criminal is in the city,' Rockingham said. 'We're using ShotSpotter so police can get to a crime scene faster. We're using community policing so we have more officers on the street.'
Should Coleman become mayor, he said he wants to double the size of the public works department. It will enable more infrastructure projects, like redoing sidewalks and repaving roads. It will include engineering personnel to do the work currently done by outside contractors.
'It will allow us to hire more employees from within the city as well as doing engineering projects in-house,' Coleman said. 'We'll be able to do projects that are long overdue.'
Another thing at the top of Hood's agenda is lowering property taxes. He said they are too high for many of the residents and need to be reduced. He also wants to enhance public safety by improving the relationships between the residents and the police.
'I always wanted to be a police officer,' Hood said. 'I want to have a good police presence and have them be a part of the community. If there are issues, (residents)should be able to go to the Citizens Advisory Board.'
Early voting continues through Monday at North Chicago Public Library, the Lake County Courthouse & Administration Building in Waukegan, and 15 other sites throughout the county. Polls are open election day between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Lake County Clerk Anthony Vega said people can vote either at their preferred polling place or any other site around Lake County which is convenient.
