City residents have a direct pipeline to City Hall with the addition of Community Liaison Susana Figueroa.
A 10-year Waukegan resident who started her new position last month, Figueroa will work to bridge cultural gaps between residents, groups and the city administration.
She will be particularly helpful in helping smooth the sometimes rocky relationship between City Hall and Waukegan’s growing Hispanic population, officials say. Figueroa, who holds a bachelor of arts degree in business from Lake Forest College, is Hispanic and bilingual.
Figueroa will serve as liaison for citizens in working with the Community Services Division of the Waukegan Police Department, the Office of the Mayor and the City Council. She will be under the direct supervision of the police deputy chief of services.
Although Figueroa’s main role will be to communicate city policies and procedures to residents and relay community concerns back to officials, she also will organize town meetings and help coordinate educational and drug- and crime-prevention programs for the city.