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Meet Drue... |
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Drue is a life-long Quad Citian, born in 1964, a
fourth-generation Coal Valleyan, who has a strong commitment and love for
Illinois. He feels a strong responsibility to the people who call Rock
Island County "home." He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management
from Western Illinois University- Quad Cities.
Drue was elected to the Rock Island County Board in 2012 after serving 5
years on the Coal Valley Village Board. He has committed his county board
term to reforming government and ensuring the people have a voice - winning
an Attorney General request for review where public speaking was denied.
As a lifelong Republican, Drue believes it is a moral responsibility to
participate in political life. In 2018, Mr. Mielke was elected chairman of
the Rock Island County GOP. As chairman, he encourages all people to be
involved in decisions that affect their community. That includes outreach to
Democrats and Independents whose party may no longer be inline with their
needs and beliefs. Drue asks people to consider stepping up to serve the
public in elected positions in their government. His goals are to seek
candidates that are inclusive who will serve our villages and cities,
county, and state well by representation that protects the interest of the
people.
Drue was elected to the Rock Island County Board in 2012 after serving 5
years on the Coal Valley Village Board. He has committed his county board
term to reforming government and ensuring the people have a voice - winning
an Attorney General request for review where public speaking was denied.
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Drue Mielke
“I
represent ALL the residents and realize that the most vulnerable of our
residents may not have the loudest voice.” |
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Drue's great-grandfather immigrated from Germany and was an early settler
coal miner in Coal Valley. His grandfather, likewise, was a coal miner and
also ran a Coal Valley mine and then became a farmer.
Drue's father was a farmer in rural Coal Valley
and his family later became involved in his
mother's family business, Regalia Mfg. in Rock
Island, later going on to start her own business.
"I learned from her trials in family and in starting a new business the
importance of being strong in the face of adversity, being fair, and
standing up for what is right." It it his hope that Abraham Lincoln was
correct when he said "Right makes Might." Can we do any less?
Drue attended Immanuel Lutheran School in Rock Island and then transferred
to Coal Valley South grade school in downtown Coal
Valley. After graduating from
Moline Senior High School, he continued
my education at Black Hawk
College, Moline. When Western Illinois University brought its degree
programs to the Quad Cities, he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in
Business Management in 1992. Drue states "I am proud that
I received my entire education in Rock Island County.
Raised a Missouri Synod Lutheran,
Drue is a convert Catholic and attends
St. Maria Goretti Church in downtown Coal Valley.
Drue states that "a guiding factor in
my life has
been faith. Faith instills in
me a call to be fair and to strive to be just to all.
Because of this, I have a respect for all people-
people of all backgrounds, races, faiths, and
spiritualities. I recognize we are all created equal by God, but also
created diverse. I have an
open mind and heart to those of all races, sexual
orientations, and abilities. Most importantly, I
fight for the God-given right of freedom of will and freedom of conscience.
I try to make my only judgment to be against those who will not allow us to
remain free. |
My public service to you-
A desire to give back to the community sparked my interest in volunteering
in 2001 with Coal Valley's newsletter, The Village News. Now in my
fifthteenth year publishing and producing the newsletter, I continue to
serve my village and the greater communi-ty.
Attending village board meetings led me to caucus for trustee in 2007. I
served as Coal Valley Village Trustee beginning April 2007 until stepping
down on December 3, 2012 when I was sworn in as your Rock Island County
Board Representative for District 22.
In my role as an elected official, I work to protect all residents,
especially our most vulnerable residents who do not have the loudest voice.
I believe every resident's voice is important I demonstrate this by
listening and looking at all sides before making a decision. I have a
history of working effectively and delib-erately by listening to all
resident's perspectives. I appreciate that approaches may be different, but
common ground can be found. I believe an elected official is obligated to
represent ALL residents of which he serves, regardless of party affiliation,
or including those who do not vote.
Serving as your county board representative, I have a commitment to attend
all county board meetings, all my assigned committee meetings and any other
committee meet-ings with issues relevant to our District 22, influence the
board and vote to assure your interests are protected, and communicate board
actions to you.
Prior to being elected in 2012, I asked the county board at that time to add
a public comments section to each county board meeting agenda to add much
needed trans-parency in the spirit of Illinois' Open Meetings Act. Many
county and municipal gov-ernments have a public comments section to hear
from the public. and only require no-tice prior to the meeting. I asked for
a request for review from the Attorney General's office Public Action
Commission regarding the county's current rules for speaking and the AG
agreed that the board's policy was restrictive and not compliant with our
Illinois Open Meetings Act.
More here at "RICo in
violation of Open Meetings Act"
I was compelled by the lack of transparency and degree of unwillingness to
be ac-countable to the public and continue to work diligently to assure that
our Rock Island County board continues to make reforms.
I believe that public officials are here to serve the public. Please call me
or email me if you have any questions or concerns. I answer every call and
return every email from residents. I can be reached at (309) 235-7493,
799-5514, or via email at countyboard@druemielke.com. |
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Campaign promises fulfilled |
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I
was elected to the Rock Island County Board in 2012 after serving 5 years in
municipal government on the Coal Valley Village Board. I
have committed my county board term to
demanding and providing good government and ensuring the people have a
voice.
I
won an Attorney General Request for Review regarding the Open Meetings Act
right for the people to address the board through public comments and helped
rewrite rules that intentionally restricted the public’s right to comment.
Mr. Mielke led the fight that the county board COULD be downsized prior to
the decennial reapportionment and was met with strong opposition. Despite
threats made that insisted that he quit in this pursuit, he continued, and a
new Attorney General opinion proved Mr. Mielke correct that if the people
chose a change in the method of electing board members, then the board
member number could be reduced prior to the next census.
In March 2016, myself, fellow
Republicans on the board, and two
reform-minded Democrats, came out against increasing the power of the Rock Island County
Public Building Commission’s scope without voter approval.
I hold
that although determined to be legal, it represents a circumvention of the
people’s voice in the building of the courthouse annex. “Because something
is determined to be legal does not make it right, does not make it right for
the county, and does not make it right for the residents,” Mielke states.
My 2012 campaign promises were true commitments. Those fulfilled
promises include the reforms of hiring a county administrator, standing up
to and overturning nepotism and unfair hiring practices, supporting and
fighting for a reduction of the county board members, and honest
representation.
I believe every resident has a voice and demonstrates this by listening
and looking at all sides before making a decision. Meeting residents in
2012, a very important lack of representation became known and the central
theme of his campaign became this statement:
“I represent ALL the residents and realize that the most vulnerable of our
residents may not have the loudest voice.”
I work for Real Reform so that all voices are heard and the right
to speak upheld.
Mr. Mielke is a member of the
Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Quad Cities Hispanic Chamber of
Commerce, Rock Island Branch of the NAACP, Moline Viking Club, Saint
Maria Goretti Catholic Church, American Scandinavian Society at Augustana,
and an associate member of the Republican Women of Rock Island County. |
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