Asking for your vote – Misty Haji-Sheikh

Misty Haji-Sheikh

We are in the final days of a very important election. The forums we have had are a form of a job interview. In an interview, the candidate is supposed to list and explain what they have accomplished. So I’d like to tell you why I am the best candidate.

Before making DeKalb my home, I ran a department at the University of Texas at Arlington for about 10 years, a university that had 30,000 students. I am used to working with people by listening to them and working hard with them to find solutions together. I worked closely with the school district and even lobbied at the state level for our schools. I was honored for my work by my peers.

We moved to DeKalb for Northern Illinois University. I began volunteering on my fourth day in DeKalb – coaching soccer. I asked what needed to be done and was voted PTA president, music booster president and much more.

We raised our kids here. They received a good education, graduated from DeKalb High School and are now in college.

• I have been self-employed in a family farming business. I am well-versed in Illinois school, city and county finances.
• I believe in a balanced budget and living within our means. The city’s current spending is unsustainable. Let’s eliminate waste.
• I have a good record at finding low cost effective, efficient solutions.
• I believe that transparency is vital and communication with residents makes for the best outcome. This begins with how the meetings are run. I am well versed in Robert’s Rules of Order.
• I am an advocate for open government and citizen access (see my many Letters to the Editor). We, on your County Board, reduced the county budget. In 2015, we actually cut $800,000 from the budget and took $400,000 out of reserves and in 2016 we made about $2 million in cuts and took out zero in reserves.

There is much work that needs to be done in DeKalb. I am the only candidate who has said that I will work full time for part-time pay as your mayor, spending 20 hours as mayor and up to an additional 20 hours promoting DeKalb, working to bring jobs to DeKalb.

My plans for bringing in jobs, fighting crime and fixing our streets can be found on my website citizensformisty.com. I am asking for your vote Tuesday.