For more information, contact: Bryan Gutraj (847) 421-9567	For Immediate Release November 17, 2003
Lake County Board Candidate, Bryan Gutraj, hosted coffee chat.
As part of his bid for county board, nearly 50 people braved the cold, rainy night and turned out for a coffee chat hosted by Bryan Gutraj on Monday, Nov. 17. Many of the people in attendance are new to the political process, and half were under the age of 30. Bryan Gutraj is a candidate for Lake County Board, District 6, which encompasses parts of Grayslake, Gurnee, Round Lake Park, and Third Lake. He is a Certified Public Accountant and owns a local accounting firm. As a graduate of Grayslake Community High School and Eastern Illinois University, Bryan is poised to earn his Juris Doctor in January from John Marshall Law School. Having been born and raised in central Lake County, Bryan will be able to bring a historical perspective to the Board as well as lead the way to find innovative solutions to the county’s issues. The most popular concerns of residents in attendance were traffic and taxes. To offset those concerns Bryan has pledged to work with the municipalities, state, and federal governments to secure more funding to increase the capacity of the current roadways and work to attract new business development in central lake county. As Bryan quipped at the chat, “I will keep this campaign lively as I canvass the district, meet with residents, and discuss the issues, so the voters do not need a perk such as coffee to keep them awake for the next four months of the campaign.” Learning the value of public service from his father, Sgt. Conrad Gutraj (Ret.), who served on the Grayslake Police Department for 26 years, Bryan hopes to energize a new generation of leaders to step forward into public service. Commenting on the many new faces attending the coffee chat, Bryan said “It is great to have so many non-politicos in attendance. Too often people decide to just go out and vote, but this year it is exciting so many people want to take part in the process so early on and work with a candidate. I got involved in politics at a young age because we live in this great democracy where we get to pick our leaders, not have them chosen for us.”