The Will County Board spent about six hours Monday updating its rules after the newly seated board members were sworn in during a ceremony and reorganizational meeting.
The board elected new leadership, including Wilmington Democrat Joe VanDuyne, a board member since 2018, as its new speaker. The speaker, formerly known as County Board chair, presides over meetings in the absence of the county executive, prepares agendas and assigns committees.
VanDuyne, most recently the chair of the board’s Public Works and Transportation Committee, succeeds Judy Ogalla, a Monee Republican who held post for the last two years.
The board also selected Sherry Williams of Crest Hill as the Democratic leader and Jim Richmond of Mokena as the Republican leader, replacing Democrat Leader Jackie Traynere of Bolingbrook and Republican Leader Steve Balich of Homer Glen.
The new leadership will preside over a politically divided, and sometimes acrimonious board, the same as it has been the last two years.
The board is composed of 11 Democrats and 10 Republicans, but will be evenly split once the seat of newly elected county Clerk Annette Parker, a Republican, is filled. Parker represented the county’s 5th District, which is a large portion of Crest Hill and Lockport.
County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, a Democrat who won reelection last month, is the tie-breaker.
VanDuyne said he intends to be as fair as possible as speaker.
“We have to remember Will County is made up of Democrats and Republicans, and they all need representation,” VanDuyne said.
He said he hopes to reach across the aisle.
“It’s going to be a split board,” VanDuyne said. “The only way to achieve anything is by a bipartisan vote.”
Both Williams and Richmond said having an open line of communication will be key to a successful board.
Williams said she has a good relationship with many Republicans and will work to bring more unity.
“I am planning to try everything in my power to get us to be more cohesive than what we have been,” Williams said.
Williams, a board member since 2022, has been vice chair of the ad hoc Old Courthouse Committee and sat on the Executive, Public Works and Transportation, Public Health and Safety and ad hoc Access Will County committees.
Richmond, a board member since 2022, has been chair of the Finance Committee, vice chair of the Public Works and Transportation Committee and sat on the Executive and Capital Improvements committees.
He said during his career in business, he has worked with a lot of different people with various ideas. He said he is a reasonable person with common sense, and his goal is to serve the people of Will County.
“I’m optimistic. At the end of the day we can agree to disagree on some things, but I’m sure we’ll find common ground,” Richmond said.
Board members elected in November and sworn in Monday include Republican incumbents Julie Berkowicz of Naperville and Vince Logan of Joliet and Democratic incumbent Denise Winfrey of Joliet. Other Democrats elected were Dawn Bullock of Plainfield, Kelly Hickey of Naperville and Herbert Brooks of Joliet.
The Will County Board, including its new members, voted to update some rules, such as making the Landfill Committee a standing committee as opposed to an ad hoc committee and ensuring all board members are appointed to two committees. The board also voted for its Executive and Finance committees to receive quarterly reports from the Community Mental Health Board.
The board voted to continue starting meetings with an invocation. Some members said a prayer before a public meeting is not inclusive of all faiths and makes some board and audience members feel uncomfortable, while others said it was a respectful way to begin a meeting and can bring the community together in times of crisis. The invocation was favored over a moment of silence.
The board also returned honorary proclamations to its agenda as long as the Executive Committee unanimously approves the proclamation. Earlier this year, the previous board removed proclamations from its agendas for causing divisiveness.
The board voted to change its start time for monthly meetings from 9:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., and will add a consent agenda, which is a listing of routine items that can be approved as a set, as part of the agenda.
Public comment submitted via a form letter will also be read into the record only once, the board decided. In a couple instances over the last year, emails that were the same or similar were read aloud for an hour or two during board meetings.
Board Republicans objected to the way the rule changes were handled. Some Republicans said they received rule changes shortly after 8:30 p.m. Sunday while some said they didn’t receive an email at all. A paper copy with rule changes that were redlined arrived after the swearing-in ceremony Monday.
“That is an absolute shame,” Ogalla said.
“We have not had the time to read or review the changes,” Berkowicz said.
Hickey said she hadn’t been sworn in but still reviewed the rules. The changes were minimal, she said.
Traynere said she wasn’t approached by Republican leadership to discuss any rule changes, and any changes to rules could be done yearlong, she said.
“Frequently, we have these blow ups here on the board and one of the main reasons is people don’t understand the rules we are supposed to agree on,” said board member Mark Revis, a Plainfield Republican.
“Regarding our process here, while it’s disorganized, while it’s very sloppy, while it might even be kind of embarrassing and a negative mark on how our constituents look at us and how we get business done, I think this is a necessary procedure that we need to go through meticulously and continue to look at each of these rules one by one.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter.
