This is one in a series of stories looking at contested races in the Aurora area in the March 19 primary election.
Four candidates are running in the Republican primary election March 19 for three four-year seats on the Kendall County Board from District 1.
The candidates are incumbents Brian DeBolt, Scott Gengler and Seth Wormley, and newcomer Brandon Beerup. The top three vote-getters will move on to the November election, where they will face Democratic candidates Zachary Turnbow, Jamal Williams and Benjamin Schmidt, who are running unopposed in the Democratic primary, as well as Todd Milliron of the Kendall County Party.
DeBolt, of Plano, retired from Yorkville School District 115 after 37 years as director of buildings. He won elections to the Kendall County Board in 2020 and 2022.
DeBolt is a lifelong Kendall County resident.
“I feel that I have helped to make changes for the better of residents,” he said. “Kendall County is a great place to live and I want to make sure it stays this way and better if I can.”
He previously was a volunteer firefighter and captain for 12 years for the Little Rock-Fox Fire Protection District. He retired as a trustee for the department in 2020 with 18 years of service when he became a Kendall County Board member.
DeBolt was elected by his peers to be Kendall County Forest Preserve District president and serves on a number of county board committees.
DeBolt is among the board supporters of eliminating the Kendall County Forest Preserve portion on property taxes and replacing it with a voter-approved sales tax to fund the district and all of its land holdings.
“We have close to 3,000 acres of property. We are researching the idea,” DeBolt said.
The move essentially would eliminate the forest preserve’s portion of taxes on property tax bills. The forest preserve district would then have to place a sales tax referendum on the ballot to generate revenue for the district, he said.
Gengler, of Yorkville, is seeking to retain his seat on the Kendall County Board.
He was unanimously appointed in 2019 to serve the unexpired county board term of John Purcell, who was elected mayor of Yorkville. Gengler was elected to the board in 2020 and 2022.
“I look to continue a conservative and fiscally responsible approach to the county board,” he said.
One of the notable projects in the county during his time on the board was the completion of the Eldamain Road Bridge over the Fox River last year, he said.
“It was a $35 million project with minimal local taxpayer dollars,” Gengler said.
Other projects during his time on the board include the use of grant funds for the county’s Fox Street campus expansion project in Yorkville, which includes a building that will house the Kendall County Clerk’s Office and other offices, he said.
Gengler, a financial advisor, acknowledged board members are looking into eliminating the Kendall County Forest Preserve District property tax portion of the tax bill and funding the district through a sales tax if approved via referendum by the voters, he said.
“We are working with local state legislators to amend the Downstate Forest Preserve District Act, Gengler said as part of the process to make the proposed change a reality. “It would be a way to reduce the burden on county taxpayers by spreading it across the county through a sales tax.”
Brandon Beerup lives in the rural part of Kendall County.
“I would like to be a voice for the rural side of the county,” Beerup said.
Beerup lives in Fox Township, on the edge of Yorkville.
“I have lived here all of my life and attended Yorkville schools,” he said. “People move to Kendall County for the rural settings. I would like to make sure we can keep the county rural in character rather than become another suburban area.”
Beerup works for the Kendall County Forest Preserve District maintaining the grounds. He has a graduate degree in business from DeVry University, he said.
“I am passionate about the environment and would like to see less traffic and light pollution,” he said.
“We keep hearing that the county needs economic development to lower taxes but I don’t actually see that happening in Cook or DuPage counties. I don’t think they have lower taxes with all of the growth they have had,” Beerup said.
Incumbent Seth Wormley did not respond to requests for an interview.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
