Bridget Gainer

Bridget Gainer is a Cook County Commissioner, representing the County’s 10th district. She has served as Commissioner since 2009 for the 10th district, which includes many of Chicago’s north side neighborhoods. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life

Gainer was raised in the Mount Greenwood neighborhood on Chicago's south side and educated at Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School. In 1990, she graduated from University of Illinois with a bachelor of arts in English and political science. Afterwards, she moved to New York City to work as a community organizer with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. She moved back to Chicago in 1994 to do similar work with after-school programs. Gainer began working as a budget analyst in Chicago's City Hall. She then went on to work for the Park District as the Director of the Lakefront Parks. Gainer then joined Aon as an assistant treasurer. After the September 11 attacks, Aon formed a governmental affairs division and she became its director. She continues to work for Aon as the Head of Public Affairs, although she also works on business development and strategy. As Public Affairs head, Gainer oversees the firm's corporate political action committee (PAC) and decides how these funds are spent. Bridget Gainer is married to Dennis Kibby and has three children.^[1]

Political career

Gainer was initially appointed to the seat in April 2009 to replace former commissioner Mike Quigley, who won the special election to fill former Congressman Rahm Emanuel's seat when Emanuel left Congress to become White House Chief of Staff to President Obama . Gainer's rise to this position, though outside the norms of Democracy, has been lauded as good for the county and the Commissioner.^[2] In 2010, Gainer, a Democrat, defeated her Republican opponent in the November 2010 election and won a four-year term.

Her work since she was appointed in 2009 includes:

• voting to repeal a portion of the Cook County Sales Tax, which will stem the tide of shoppers and businesses leaving the County and force County government to run more efficiently and effectively.
• creating an independent bureau within the State's Attorney office to allow County litigation to be handled by State's attorneys rather than outside private counsel, saving the county millions of dollars each year.
• working to reform the county lobbying ordinance requiring full transparency in the contracting process^[3]
  • Gainer unregistered herself as Aon's lobbyist that same year, however, the Commissioner continues to meet with policymakers in her capacity as Aon's chief lobbyist ^[4]
• voting against video gaming in bars, after taking thousands of dollars from casino interests and owners ^[5]

In 2015, U.S. Sen. Kristen Gillibrand and Gainer founded a Chicago chapter of Off the Sidelines, a civic impact organization for women.^[6] Gainer used Aon's corporate PAC to contribute $7,500 to the Off the Sidelines PAC between 2013 and 2014. ^[7]

She is a Board member of Women Employed, The Center for Economic Progress and St. Gregory's High School.

References

External links

• http://www.bridgetgainer.com/
• http://www.cookcountygov.com/