The fight for clean water is central to Vice President Patricia Theresa Flynn’s mission. As a public servant, Vice President Flynn has demonstrated a range of skills as an elected trustee for the village of Crestwood. Vice President Flynn has worked to promote fiscal responsibility with an annual balanced budget, developed effective policy and procedures for the village, and chaired both the village’s Finance and Water/Sewer departments.

Vice President Flynn has served and completed her third term as trustee for the village of Crestwood. She became the first woman elected to the Crestwood Board of Trustees in 2011 after a drinking water scandal impacted her community. Unbeknownst to residents, the village was mingling contents of a contaminated well with purchased Lake Michigan water. The well contained a known carcinogen, vinyl chloride. As a mother of three young children, forced to either relocate or become engaged in local government, Flynn chose to run for office and won the election. She helped fight for clean water and clean government and helped the community regain its foothold following the scandal that cost the village more than $15 million in litigation and resulted in 22 felony counts against previous village officials.

As trustee, she has partnered with the MWRD and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on flood mitigation within Crestwood, successfully removing 150 homes from the regulatory flood plain, saving homeowners from the misery of repetitive flooding and thousands of dollars annually in flood insurance. 

Prior to running for local office, Vice President Flynn was an employee of the MWRD, working in both Pollution Control and in the Calumet Water Reclamation Plant laboratory. Protection of the waterways and flood mitigation are the missions of the MWRD, both of which Flynn has been a proponent.

Vice President Flynn lives with her husband of 30 years, Mark, a union painter, in Crestwood, where they raised their three children. She currently sits on Illinois Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza’s Advisory Council, is a member of the Southwest Conference of Mayors and is an Illinois Municipal League member. She is a former director and serves as a lifelong volunteer at Chicago Gaelic Park, focused on the preservation of Irish culture and sport. In additional service to her community, Vice President Flynn founded a community art council, co-chaired fine art fairs, served as a blood drive chair, organized community breast cancer walks, served as contributor and editor to a monthly village newsletter and implemented a veteran’s banner program to publicly recognize servicemen and women throughout the town. Flynn and the Board of Trustees also initiated a no-cost sports program to all Crestwood children, encouraging physical activity without financial burden to families.

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