James Mendrick Returns to Hometown to Encourage Early Voting

It was near the place of their first date, Tivoli Theatre in Downers Grove.

The couple came to the Downers Grove Train Station on Wednesday morning to say hello and talk to commuters about early voting. High school sweethearts, at Downers Grove South High School, James and Cyndi Mendrick. have been dating for 32 years, married for 22.

With early voting opening on Wednesday, February 21st , the couple wanted to make sure that Downers Grove residents knew about early voting and to see what concerns they have.

The Dupage County Sheriff and his wife have always been concerned with the community.

As an officer for 22 years with DuPage County Sheriffs department , James Mendrick wants to go further to help people. He is running for DuPage County Sheriff.

“As Sheriff my first priority will be the opioid epidemic,” said Mendrick. “Over the years I've heard others say that they're going to wage a war on drugs but the key to having success rests on having a meaningful and mult-tiered strategy for the war against drugs. We, at the DuPage County Sheriff's Office do have some programs designed to combat drug use but according to the Coroners report, DuPage County suffered 95 opioid related deaths in 2017. To me that number is staggering. While we have had some successes, I believe we can do better,” he adds.

James and Cyndi are involved with Trinity Services as well as DuPage Chapter for NAMI. They also have a heart for senior citizens.

“I plan to create a comprehensive Elder assistance abuse program at the Sheriff's Office, “ emphasizes Mendrick. “The HELP program, Helping the Elderly through Law enforcement Partnerships, would be a program dedicated to assist our aging community with identity theft, various scams, fraud, elder abuse, Alzheimer's and dementia assistance, financial exploitation, residential safety checks, telephone such as IRS scams or any other needs. Deputies will have specialized training for this very necessary function,” adds Mendrick.

Mendrick talks about the importance of the Sheriffs office and working with community members.

“This will never be James Mendrick's Sheriff's Office,’ said Mendrick. “It will belong to the deputies, the citizens, the working class and all of the other stakeholders in DuPage County. The Sheriff's Office is in a unique position where we could be the heart of a cooperative county-wide model that will consolidate cost and bring a myriad of new and enhanced services to the residents of DuPage County,” he added.

Early voting for DuPage County is at the Election Commission Office located at 421 County Farm Road in Wheaton from8:00 am - 4:30 pm Monday through Friday, and Saturday, from 9:00 am - 1:00 pm through March 3, 2018.