Susana Mendoza and David Szostak

 

It was Susana next victory. She won race for the second term as the Chicago City Clerk. She is the first Latino woman to held the Office of Chicago City Clerk. She was very involved as the Co-Chairman of the tough race of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Susana celebrated their victory and they were sworn in. Obviously, there is gigantic work ahead of them in their respective functions.

 Suzana Mendoza. Inauguration speech on May 18, 2015 (Photo courtesy of Polskie Raido 1030AM)

Susana Mendoza served previously as the member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 2001 to 2011 for 6 consecutive terms. She made many valuable contributions on the state and city levels. She has been publicly recognized for her leadership and legislation on social services, law enforcement, education, and job creation.

David Szostak listens Mayor Rahm Emanuel – Inauguration speech on May 18, 2015 (Photo courtesy of Polskie Raido 1030AM)

Suzana Mendoza is a very enthusiastic, outspoken person, an excellent public speaker with strong leadership skills. In her first term as the Chicago City Clerk, she led the successful transition from the inefficient 105-year-old Seasonal process of selling the City Vehicle Sticker – known for its long lines and once-a-year headaches – to a new era of streamlined Year-Round sales and processes. Her office sells city stickers for over 1 million cars in Chicago.

Susana Mendoza with her husband David Szostak after her Inauguration- for the second term as the Chicago City Clerk. Photo: A. Mikolajczyk.

Susana Mendoza was a successful football player and a captain of the high school soccer team. She was awarded a scholarship for playing soccer at University of Missouri.

She is saying that her greatest treasure is her family. Her husband David Szostak was sitting with her during the recent Inauguration of Chicago Council in the first raw, behind the speakers.

I have read different materials, articles about both of them before Inauguration. Finally, I was able to congratulate Susana Mendoza and David after the official Inauguration and to talk with his parents: Helene and Edward (Ed) Szostak. They are proud of their Polish-American heritage. They have 9 children, among them David.

David Szostak with his parents: Helene and Edward.Photo: A. Mikolajczyk.

Susana writes on her website: “I am the luckiest woman in the world because in 2009, I reconnected with an old friend from high school, David Szostak. David was the quarterback of our high school team, and I was the captain of our soccer team. We never dated in high school…we were just good friends with a genuine respect and admiration for each other. We each went our separate ways after graduating from Bolingbrook High School”

They met again in 2000, for their 10 year high school reunion. They happily married in 2011. They are blessed with their amazing son, David Quinten Szostak, who is 2,5 years old.

Suzana Mendoza speaks highly about her own family and about Helene and Ed Szostak, her in-laws who have been married for 50 years. Her in-laws have 14 grandchildren. There is a great possibility for expanding their family legacy.

David Szostak is the Director of Marketing and Business Development for Music Dealers.
I hope that this article will be another step forward to learn more about Mendoza and Szostak interesting personal story, about their extended family and about possibilities of building positive relations between Mexican and Polish Communities in Chicago and maybe on large scale. Susana and David are highly successful professionals with great skills, great commitment and incredible enthusiasm to make many other positive contributions to the American Society.

Inauguration of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago City Council on May 18, 2015.

(Photo courtesy of Polskie Raido 1030AM)  http://polskieradio.com/

 You can read Sazana Mendoza and Szostak amazing story by checking the following website:

http://www.susanamendoza.com/family

@ Andrew (Andrzej ) Mikolajczyk