Farmers Weekly Review

By Nick Reiher

Following the Democrats’ capture of the County Board leadership at the December 2 Reorganization Meeting, Charles B. Pelkie has been named as the board’s Chief of Staff.

“After working with Will County for nearly 20 years, Chuck Pelkie is uniquely qualified to fill the role of Will County Board Chief of Staff,” said Joe VanDuyne, D-Wilmington, voted in as Board Speaker at the December 2 meeting.

“His knowledge of the operations of Will County government is exceeded only by his desire to serve. He’s proven time and again his ability to work well with both political parties. We look forward to working with him in this new capacity.”

He will begin his new duties Monday, Dec. 9, VanDuyne said.

Most recently, Pelkie served as Will County Clerk when Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry resigned following the August board meeting to take the vacant Joliet City Clerk’s post. Until then, he was Chief Deputy Clerk, serving there when Staley Ferry was first elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022.

Pelkie is spending his last week before the new job, as he says, tying up loose ends, in the clerk’s office. He’s showing the ropes to Annette Parker, a former County Board member from Crest Hill, who won a special election November 5 to finish out Staley Ferry’s remaining two years.

He’s also helping Parker’s new Chief of Staff, Kim Fladhammer, who was Pelkie’s predecessor as County Board Chief of Staff.

“I’m really looking forward to the new challenge,” Pelkie said, adding he gets along with and is ready to serve all County Board members, regardless of party affiliation.

Pelkie said he enjoyed working in the County Clerk’s Office, where challenges included holding elections during a pandemic and upgrading the election equipment.

He said the staff was up to all those challenges, and will be great support for Parker.

“She’ll be in very good hands,” he said.

Prior to serving in the County Clerk’s Office, Pelkie was Director of the Bureau of Crime Prevention and Public Access for the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office for 13 years under Jim Glasgow.

Pelkie’s background is in journalism, working as a reporter with the Herald News in Joliet and Pioneer Press before entering government service.

Nick Reiher is editor of Farmers Weekly Review.