Anna Valencia: Illinois Secretary of State candidate answers Tribune Editorial Board questionnaire
To inform voters and to help the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board make endorsements, the board posed a series of questions to the candidates running for Illinois Secretary of State. See how other the other candidate answered here.
[What’s an endorsement, and why does the Tribune Editorial Board do them?]
Candidate name: Anna M. Valencia
Running for: Illinois Secretary of State
Residence: Chicago
Current occupation: City Clerk - City of Chicago
Previous political experience (elective and appointed positions): Chicago City Clerk (appointed 2017; elected 2019 - present)
Education: B.S.- University of Illinois
Spouse’s occupation: Kazmi Advisors - President/Owner, National consulting firm providing strategic advision, relationship management and advocacy in the public & private sectors. National Youth Advocate Program (NYAP) - Chief Advocacy & Government Strategies Officer - oversees advocacy programs, partnership development and contracts with private and public sector partners. Ignite Cities - Consultant UIC & John Glenn College - Instructor
Sources of outside income: None
Questions with candidate’s answers
What changes would you make to improve traffic safety, particularly from the standpoint of teen drivers, driving while intoxicated and distracted driving?
Secretary White has made Illinois a national leader in highway safety. I’m honored to have his endorsement and I want to build on his efforts to make improvements and save even more lives. Road safety is paramount to me and will be a top priority in my administration as Secretary of State. I plan to convene a Road Safety Advisory Panel comprised of national and state experts – including the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists (AAIM) and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). The panel’s charge will be to develop an innovative and comprehensive traffic safety package designed to combat impaired driving, extreme speeding and distracted driving. My goal is to take the panel’s recommendations and pass groundbreaking legislation to save lives and make our roads safer than ever. Additionally, I plan to build on Secretary White’s many accomplishments to combat drunk driving by streamlining communication among the 102 counties in sharing court supervision information, limiting court supervision, enhancing penalties for drunk driving, and expanding the state’s Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device (BAIID) program.
Are there any specific inefficiencies within the office that need addressing or services that need improvement, and if yes, what would your improvements be?
I’m proud of the work I’ve done as City Clerk of Chicago to modernize government and how we’ve been able to make the City of Chicago more accessible to residents. As Secretary of State, I plan to build on the progress Secretary White has made to ensure we serve all Illinois residents as effectively and efficiently as possible. I’m excited to get to work to continue modernizing our government, and I have a plan that outlines exactly how we will make it happen. I will create a DMV online payment portal to streamline and simplify services. Illinoisans will be able to conduct transactions online and receive new and updated documents through the mail. I will work to develop a phone app that allows access to the DMV’s online portal and includes multi-lingual services for non-English speaking communities and will allow residents to upload their driver’s license. I will also look to stand-up DMV self-service kiosks to allow Illinoisans to conveniently renew vehicle registrations, print duplicate registration and decals, and obtain drivers’ history printouts. I also understand from my time as City Clerk that the best results come when elected officials work with members of our communities to identify their needs and team up with experts to create forward-thinking policies. As Secretary of State, I will bring together thought partners who are proven innovators, including frontline workers, mid-level managers, private sector partners, faith leaders, and academic institutions. I will work with them to create the feedback necessary to make additional modernizations to the Secretary of State’s office that help it to run more efficiently and effectively for all Illinoisans.
What would you do to modernize the office and make it more consumer-friendly?
In addition to the pieces of my modernization plan that will help the office run more efficiently, I have several other proposals to modernize the Secretary of State’s Office. recently released a detailed plan to build on Secretary White’s legacy and continue the process of modernizing the Secretary of State’s office to make it more efficient and user-friendly for Illinois families.
I plan to Implement blockchain solutions to protect our data. Blockchain has many benefits that allow for safer and faster transactions, encryption that makes it extremely difficult for hackers to corrupt, and allows for the tracking of real-time records which limits fraud.
The Secretary of State also has the honor of being the state’s Chief Librarian. I plan to update our library infrastructure and make sure our library system is delivering for Illinoisans in the 21st century by expanding “Makers Labs” into libraries across the state and increasing innovation grants to make additional modernized improvements.
I will work to electrify our infrastructure by turning our state buildings into WiFi beacons. This will allow residents living or working nearby to access free internet.
I also plan to create a one-stop-shop online portal that will create one electronic file per person, so Illinoisans can visit the Secretary of State’s web portal, enter their password, and conduct all their business on one personalized, secure webpage. This one-stop-shop initiative will make transactions with the office quick and easy.
Finally, I want to make the Secretary of State’s office more eco-friendly. I will expand upon Secretary White’s eco-friendly efforts, including efforts to encourage Illinoisans to sign up for online vehicle registration renewal reminder notices instead of receiving postcard reminders each year in the mail.
I want to bring the same types of bold and innovative ideas I have executed during my time as City Clerk of Chicago to the Secretary of State’s office to better serve citizens across Illinois.
Give us the best example of when you displayed independence from your party or staked out an unpopular position.
In December 2020, I was one of the first elected officials to call on Mike Madigan to resign as Party Chair in the wake of the serious allegations coming out about him.
Why should voters nominate you and not your opponent(s)?
I understand first-hand the challenges many Illinois families face. I grew up in a working-class family and a union household. I will be a voice for people who don’t often see themselves in state leaders, like moms, working families, downstaters and people of color. I will be an advocate for them and all Illoisans. I represent the future of our party, and if elected, I’ll make Illinois history by becoming the first woman to serve as Illinois Secretary of State.
