WHO IS JOSEPH STEINFELS?
Service.
After graduating Maine South in 1994, I enlisted in the Marines and served for 25 years, leading thousands of Marines from communities all across America and deploying to combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
I have tutored lower income students and I’ve briefed senators on Capitol Hill. I have taught undergraduate students at Duke University and infantry platoon commanders at Quantico. I have rebuilt homes destroyed by tornadoes with Habitat for Humanity as well as constructed brand new shower units in Miwani (Kenya) for orphans who lost their parents to the HIV epidemic.
Upon my return home to Park Ridge, I have committed to serve my local community as a Coach with Park District Youth Basketball, as a V-Show producer at Roosevelt, as a Cub Scout Pack Committee Chair, as a member of various volunteer organizations (Park Ridge Kiwanis), on the Wilderness Scout/Princess Federation Nation staff, as a team coach for Girls-on-the-Run, as a Library Board Trustee, and as the creator/organizer of Go Green Park Ridge’s semi-annual “Everyday is Earth Day!” Forest & Woodland Clean-Up event, an event which has drawn hundreds of Park Ridge volunteers to get outside and help clean up our community.
Within our greater community, I am a Board Member of the Chicago Youth Centers, a non-profit organization expanding opportunities for inner-city youth. Upon retiring from the Marine Corps, I have served as a Public Defender helping our nation deliver the promise of justice to the most vulnerable among us. Now, I am serving as a State's Attorney, seeking to enforce our laws in a just and compassionate manner.
Note: Joseph's wearing of a military uniform in this picture should not be construed to indicate campaign endorsement by the Department of Defense.
Community.
Park Ridge is a gem. We know this. It's close to the airport but only 18 min (no traffic) to downtown. But we also have so much to do right here in town... whether the restaurants, stores, and theaters that can compete with surrounding suburbs and the city or the parks and forest preserves along the Des Plaines River that provide so much natural beauty and green space, not to mention fresh air.
But the best part about Park Ridge are the people. The community itself. We are all members of the Park Ridge community, regardless of which ward we live in, which sport our children play, which church we attend, which teams we root for, or which uptown restaurant we most frequent. Welcoming. Accountable. Inclusive. Proud. Compassionate. It is the people of Park Ridge who make this city... A Wonderful Place.
Together.
I grew up here. I went to Mary Seat. As a kid, I would ride my bike to the library and take out as many books as I could carry for the summer reading program. We played baseball at Hinkley Field. I still have my 1985 Centennial Pool pass. In high school, I worked my first jobs at Thompson's Grocery Store (now Walgreens) and McDonalds (Oakton & NW Hwy). I married my bride at Mary Seat of Wisdom. My dad grew up here too (although he went to St Paul of the Cross). Suffice to say, Park Ridge is in my blood.
Park Ridge is a wonderful place...to raise a family, to sled down a hill, to run 5 miles through the forest, to grab a beer,...or to sit with neighbors around a backyard fire pit.
Can we improve? Sure. But I think we're pretty lucky to live here. And I want Park Ridge to remain the wonderful place it is for generations to come. We need to ensure that the promise remains for the next generation.