Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School honored five sisters who took what they learned during their four years at the school and launched successful careers in a variety of fields. During the school’s Celebration Gala on Feb. 1, the Gainer sisters were presented with the Catherine McAuley Leadership Award. Bridget Gainer ’86, Nora Gainer ’88, Maureen Gainer Reilly ’93, Mary Gainer MD ’96 and Sheila Gainer ’99 grew up in Beverly and attended St. Barnabas Elementary School before enrolling at Mother McAuley.

Just ahead of a new year’s deadline before a statewide law takes effect, the Cook County Board on Thursday unanimously approved a new paid leave mandate that applies to all suburban municipalities.

The changes replicate and slightly expand on the Jan. 1 state law, which will require most employers to provide up to 40 hours of paid leave per year. Statewide, time off will be accrued one hour at a time for every 40 hours worked, or employers could front-load that time off. Those standards would be enshrined at Cook County businesses starting in 2024 whether or not the County Board took any action.

“Vacancy becomes a disease, and it’s contagious,” said Bridget Gainer, a Cook County Commissioner and chair of the Cook County Land Bank Authority. The land bank has helped put around 865 vacant lots and more than 1,100 abandoned buildings back on tax rolls since it formed in 2013, a goal pursued by other cities.

Today, the Cook County Land Bank Authority has generated significant community wealth. And because more than 90% of properties sold by the Land Bank are for homeownership, that money remains in the community. With nearly 1,700 homes redeveloped and twice that number in the pipeline, the impact is real. The Land Bank didn’t make this happen on its own; its mission of reclaiming the land’s potential is shared by residents, community organizations, civic leaders, elected officials, artists, activists and more.

An astounding 30,000 Cook County properties await scavenger sale. The Cook County Land Bank has had success in recent years using its government powers to acquire tax-delinquent buildings in depressed areas and linking them up with new owners. But Land Bank Chairperson Bridget Gainer, a Cook County commissioner, said buildings usually sit vacant for seven to 10 years before the agency can acquire control. Gainer said the legislation, if signed by Pritzker, can shorten the time by half.

During the hearing, Gainer noted that the company “returns back to the same court system to then collect money when people can’t pay for SCRAM,” adding that this has turned the publicly funded court system into a tool for private profit. “It’s not right. We have to be mindful that private profit has no place (in the criminal justice system),” she said.

Following the hearing, Gainer introduced a resolution calling for a full audit of CAM Systems’ finances pertaining to its Cook County clients and an independent study of the efficacy of SCRAM. The criminal justice committee and full county board will vote next month on whether to approve the audit.

We are in a time when employers and government are investing in the financial and workplace resilience of people in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is imperative that the criminal justice system mandates solutions that keep people safe and address and rehabilitate the root causes of issues such as addiction. However, creating private profit is not the job of the court system.