Farmers Weekly Review

By Nick Reiher

During a 6 1/2-hour reorganization meeting December 2, the Will County Board voted to keep invocations at its meetings and changed the meeting time to 9 a.m. on the third Thursday of the month.

Joe VanDuyne, D-Wilmington, was selected County Board Speaker by the full board.

The Democrats picked Sherry Williams of Crest Hill as Caucus Leader; Republicans picked Jim Richmond of Mokena to lead their caucus.

Before the meeting, County Board members elected on November 5 were sworn in, as were county-wide officials, including Will County Clerk Annette Parker.

A former County Board member, Parker will have to be replaced on the board by a Republican from District 5, which includes her hometown of Crest Hill.

Republican party officials will submit a nominee to be placed in front of the board for a vote in the next few weeks.

During the meeting, Republicans were upset they hadn’t seen a corrected version of the County Board rules that were to be approved at that meeting. Due to a printing error, they received only a copy that showed no corrections.

They also said it wasn’t a good start to a new County Board session to present the rules, even with the changes, at the last minute. While they knew for months there would be changes, especially if the Democrats regained the leadership position, as they did, they did not know exactly what they were to be.

Richmond said he and VanDuyne discussed some of the proposed changes over the Thanksgiving weekend. But since they could not see the changes in the rules distributed the morning of the reorganization meeting, he suggested they go through them line by line, aided by a copy of the rules, with changes, projected on screens in the County Board room.

Board members accepted that, and spent much of the next six hours on language, including a change back to calling the board leader “Speaker.”

Two years ago, Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Tatroe told Board Member Judy Ogalla, R-Monee, that “Board Chair” would be more appropriate.

This time, she said, the term chairman can be confusing, because there are some counties that have elected chairmen that lead the board. With Will as one of two counties in Illinois that has the County Executive, she said “Speaker” would convey the separation of powers more effectively.

While many of the proposed changes split the board along party lines, the issue of whether to keep invocations at the beginning of County Board meetings was contentious, with both sides split.

The issue of prayer at the County Board meetings has come up before, with former Democratic Caucus Leader Jackie Traynere, D-Bolingbrook, saying a public meeting should have “freedom from religion.”

Board Members Sherry Newquist, D-Steger, and Mica Freeman, D-Plainfield, agreed with Traynere. But fellow Democrats — Denise Winfrey and Herb Brooks Jr., both of Joliet — disagreed. Brooks is pastor of St. John M. B. Church.

During his previous terms as County Board member, Brooks said the invocation often has been a source of comfort at times of tragedy for those in the boardroom and in the community.

Ogalla, noting the County Board’s often-contentious meetings, said, “If any board needs an invocation, it’s this one.”

Board Member Dan Butler, R-Frankfort, said eliminating invocations was counter to American principles, contending that Communists in China and Russia banned religion, while America was founded by Christian men and under Christian guidance.

The last part elicited a number of head shakes with board members on both sides of the issue disagreeing about the faith of the forefathers.

Board Member Julie Berkowicz, R-Naperville, said the religious leaders — an Imam, Wiccan and Rabbi, among them — invited to lead the invocation have given the county a chance to show its inclusiveness.

Nick Reiher is editor of Farmers Weekly Review.