This is one in a series of stories looking at contested races in the Aurora area in the March 19 primary election.
Three candidates are running in the Republican primary for two four-year spots on the Kendall County Board in District 2.
The primary election is set for March 19.
The GOP race features incumbent Dan Koukol, Oswego Trustee Diane Selmer and Oswego Township Highway Commissioner Claude Ainsworth. The two highest vote-getters will move on to the November election to face Democrats Zach Bachmann, an incumbent, and Savena Joiner, who are unopposed in the upcoming primary.
Koukol previously served six years on the Kendall County Board from 2010 to 2016. He returned to the board after winning election in 2020. He was reelected in 2022.
“We are in the midst of a lot of projects that I would like to see through to completion,” he said.
Koukol is a real estate broker by profession.
He’s mindful about property taxes, he said.
“I have often times been the lone no vote on raising property taxes. I have never voted in favor of a tax increase and would like to continue doing that for constituents,” Koukol said.
Selmer, of Oswego, is in her second term on the township board.
“I feel that I will be able to do more at the county board for residents in unincorporated Kendall County and I have the time to serve,” Selmer said.
“In my first term as trustee the township board lowered our levy by 2%, sold two township-owned properties and placed them back on the tax rolls and rolled back the salaries of incoming elected officials to 2016 levels,” Selmer said.
The township board also implemented policies and procedures for greater efficiency and effectiveness, she said.
“We have a different board and mindset now. I have voted consistently against levy increases. I do not feel they are justified especially given the growth in the village of Oswego and the associated loss of roads in the township. There will be fewer roads for the township to maintain,” she said.
“I have promised that I would never vote for property tax increases and I have not. There is no reason for it,” Selmer said.
Ainsworth resides in Boulder Hill.
“We are under-represented in District 2. Dan Koukol is doing a great job, but our constituents in District 2 overall have little to show for given the taxes we pay into Kendall County,” Ainsworth said.
Ainsworth said he is interested into looking how COVID relief funds were distributed in the county during the pandemic.
Ainsworth said he was encouraged to run in District 2. He currently is Oswego Township highway commissioner. He was elected highway commissioner in 2021. He retired after 26 years working as a technician for a civil engineering firm.
His term for highway commissioner expires in 2025. He intends to stay on the job as highway commissioner if elected to the county board, he said.
“It’s one of two positions in the township that a person can be a county board member and continue to work in the township. The other position is township supervisor,” he said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
