Meet Joliet City Council Candidate: Hudson Hollister

JOLIET, IL — At a time when all nine current members of the Joliet City Council are in their 50s, 60s and 70s, Joliet tech start up CEO Hudson Hollister is trying to bring a voice to Joliet's young people and energize the community's interest in city government. Hollister is one of 12 candidates vying for the three open at-large seats on the Joliet City Council in the April 6 elections.

Hollister recently filled out the Joliet Patch candidate survey, and his answers can be found below:

Name: Hudson Hollister

Age (as of Election Day): 39

Office Sought: city council

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No.

Education: J.D., Northwestern University School of Law, 2005; B.A., University of St. Francis, 2002.

Occupation: Tech startup CEO, nonprofit executive, and lawyer; 16 years of professional experience.

Campaign website: hudsonhollister.org

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office: None.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Joliet needs a shared identity and a vision for our next 50 years. We face many challenges, and each challenge calls for smart solutions, but solutions can only come from a clear sense of who we are and what we want to do this century.

Do you support Black Lives Matter and what are your thoughts on the demonstrations held since the death of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake?

Yes. Our history in Joliet is a de facto segregated one. We need to acknowledge that history and the ongoing pain and injustice racism causes. I think Joliet's people are able to do this, which makes me hopeful. So much of our current vibrancy comes from the fact that our neighborhoods, like the Cathedral Area where I live, are getting less segregated. Peaceful protest is part of our shared heritage as Americans, and it leads to good changes. In Joliet, the nationwide movement is driving the push for body cameras, which would not otherwise be on our agenda.

Do you think the current board has done enough to support racial equality, and if not, what specifically should be done to do so?

First, Joliet still shows the effects of its segregated history. Our City Council should be spending its time to confront those effects. For example, we should be working harder to bring a grocery store back to the east side than to bring another grocery store to the west side. We should be looking at ways to set aside cannabis tax revenues for economic development in underdeveloped areas, the way other Illinois municipalities have done. Second, we should scrutinize representation on appointed boards and the city’s staff, and our leaders should be showing up and listening in every neighborhood, not just the ones full of people who look like them. Third, there is a perception that city contracts go to the well-connected, and the best way to make sure that’s not true is my Joliet Transparency Pledge. Finally, I can't believe I have to mention this, but: our leaders should never, ever, engage in violence themselves!

What are your thoughts on the national and local coronavirus response? Do you favor measures such as limiting operation of non-essential businesses and restricting indoor/outdoor dining? And do you favor a local mask mandate?

From the science, from the medical professionals in my family, and from my own experience being infected and recovering from COVID, I am convinced masks work. With the introduction of vaccines and positive infection trends in Will County, I don't think a mask mandate is going to be necessary, but I hope everyone keeps wearing them and our leaders should set an example. It seems to me that COVID is not spread by restaurants and other businesses if people are keeping one another safe. Data has shown that it's mostly spread in gatherings without masks. So I don't think closing businesses is worthwhile, if masks are worn.

What are your thoughts on the state and local coronavirus vaccine distribution, and how do you think local governments should work together to handle vaccine rollout?

I see a great deal of criticism of state and local governments on vaccine distribution. With such a limited supply, there is never going to be a plan that pleases everybody. So I think most of the criticism is not really about vaccine distribution. It's expressing bitterness that was already there. The same dynamics behind our Council War are also driving our city leaders' criticism of our county government on vaccine distribution.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I have public- and private-sector experience that nobody else in the race can match. I've written federal transparency reforms and successfully persuaded bipartisan majorities in Congress to pass them and Presidents Obama and Trump to sign them. I founded and fundraised for two nonprofits, which today have a combined budget of $1.5 million, and I founded Joliet's only tech startup, HData. In both government and business, I know how to bring competing interests together to think big and pursue ambitious visions. I know how to get it done.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

Since we have twelve candidates running for three seats, I'm not running in opposition to any other candidate. But I do want to provide a different approach when I serve on the City Council. The current council does not appreciate the cost of delay. Golden opportunities slip away unless we seize them fast enough. This happened in the 2000s with Silver Cross Hospital and in the 2010s with the Stadium Club building. And our problems are going to get worse without urgent action: our lack of a Comprehensive Plan, decaying infrastructure, perverse parking incentives, fiscal liabilities. Let's get it done.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

First, we have to fix our downtown. We are not going to prosper unless our city's urban core is strong. We have fantastic architecture and there is demand for student housing and new uses. We should take advantage of those assets to make Joliet vibrant. Second, we have to connect our neighborhoods. Our bridges are broken and won't be fixed unless we find a new way to work with the state. So many places don't have the services they need, especially grocery stores. We should plan incoming development where it is going to help people. Third, we have to strengthen our communities. Our logistics industry has to provide the community support necessary for its workers to build and raise families. The current deals enacted by the Council do not achieve that goal. Our police department has to earn and retain the support of all our people. Our social services agencies deserve our respect and support, not attacks the way we’ve been seeing, as they work to help our homeless and needy. Fourth, we have to leave the Council War behind, forever, to confront long-term problems like our $1 billion in unfunded liabilities. Our future requires us to face these challenges. Let's get it done.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I know that real change takes lots of time, effort, and personal sacrifice, and I am willing to invest them. For example, when I was a Congressional staffer in 2010, I saw a need for the federal government to publish its spending data online, using a searchable data format. To accomplish this, I wrote a law called the DATA Act and my boss introduced it. When we couldn't get enough support, I resigned from my job and fundraised for a new nonprofit to lobby for it. I sought out the people who would be in charge of the law at the Treasury Department and the White House budget office, and persuaded them this was a good idea. In 2014, Congress finally passed the DATA Act, and President Obama signed it. In 2017, the government finally started publishing the whole picture of federal spending, and you can download that data at USASpending.gov. The whole journey took me seven years, endless networking, and lots of lost income, but I got it done.

If you win this position, what accomplishment would make your term in office as a success?

Before 2025, with the participation of all our communities, Joliet will embrace its new Comprehensive Plan, the first one since the 1950s. We are going to finish the Chicago Street plaza and double the number of downtown businesses. We are going to find a new way to work with the state on infrastructure and have a plan to keep our bridges working. We are going to open an east side grocery store. And our City Council meetings will be cheerful and boring, the way they should be. We are going to get it done, together.

Why should voters trust you?

I published my tax returns for the last twelve years at hudsonhollister.org - the only candidate to do that - and I started the Joliet Transparency Pledge, which nine other candidates signed with me. The Joliet Transparency Pledge says that we will reveal any financial interests related to city government, publish our own reportable contributions monthly instead of quarterly, and support reforms to publish the city's contracts and payment as open data, searchable online. Voters should look at which candidates joined the Joliet Transparency Pledge and are keeping it, and which ones did not, and vote accordingly.

What are your views on fiscal policy, government spending and the use of taxpayer dollars in the office you are seeking?

According to Truth in Accounting, Joliet has unfunded liabilities of over $1 billion, which is more than $18,000 for every person living here. We cannot pretend these liabilities don't exist. We need to restrain spending and pursue enough economic growth to bring in the revenue that will make our city's finances sustainable. If we don't do those two things, right now, the only option will be to persuade the state to let us go bankrupt so we can stop paying our retirees' pensions and health care costs. Our city government has to be honest with our people about this situation and the measures we are taking to confront it. We do have a perfect geographic position, a fantastic work force for new industries like technology, and the kind of history and architecture that companies want.

Is there any reason you would not serve your full term of office, other than those of health or family?

No.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Philippians 4:6-7.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I love cigars, Cheez-its, and coffee. Sometimes simultaneously.