Will County Board met March 3.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
I. CALL TO ORDER
| Attendee Name | Title | Status | Arrived |
| Sherry Newquist | District 1 (D - Steger) | Present | |
| Judy Ogalla | District 1 (R - Monee) | Present | |
| Amanda Koch | District 2 (D - Frankfort) | Present | |
| Jim Moustis | District 2 (R - Frankfort) | Present | |
| Raquel M. Mitchell | District 3 (R - Bolingbrook) | Present | |
| Margaret Tyson | District 3 (D - Bolingbrook) | Present | |
| Jacqueline Traynere | District 4 (D - Bolingbrook) | Present | |
| Gretchen Fritz | District 5 (R - Plainfield) | Present | |
| Meta Mueller | District 5 (D - Aurora) | Present | |
| Donald Gould | District 6 (R - Shorewood) | Present | |
| Joe VanDuyne | District 6 (D - Wilmington) | Present | |
| Steve Balich | District 7 (R - Homer Glen) | Absent | |
| Mike Fricilone | District 7 (R - Homer Glen) | Present | |
| Herbert Brooks Jr. | District 8 (D - Joliet) | Present | |
| Denise E. Winfrey | District 8 (D - Joliet) | Present | |
| Annette Parker | District 9 (R - Crest Hill) | Present | |
| Rachel Ventura | District 9 (D - Joliet) | Present | |
| Natalie Coleman | District 10 (D - Plainfield) | Present | |
| Tyler Marcum | District 10 (D - Joliet) | Present | |
| Julie Berkowicz | District 11 (R - Naperville) | Present | |
| Mimi Cowan | Speaker, District 11 (D - Naperville) | Present | |
| Frankie Pretzel | District 12 (R - New Lenox) | Absent | |
| Tom Weigel | District 12 (R - New Lenox) | Absent | |
| Mica Freeman | District 13 (D - Plainfield) | Present | |
| Debbie Kraulidis | District 13 (R - Joliet) | Absent |
III. ROLL CALL
IV. DECLARING QUORUM PRESENT
V. MOTION TO PLACE ON FILE CERTIFICATE OF PUBLICATION
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Rachel Ventura, District 9 (D - Joliet) SECONDER: Mimi Cowan, Speaker, District 11 (D - Naperville) AYES: Newquist, Ogalla, Koch, Moustis, Mitchell, Tyson, Traynere, Fritz, Mueller, Gould, VanDuyne, Fricilone, Brooks Jr., Winfrey, Parker, Ventura, Coleman, Marcum, Berkowicz, Cowan, Freeman ABSENT: Balich, Pretzel, Weigel, Kraulidis |
VII. OLD BUSINESS
1. Appointment to District #4
Member Cowan stated it is my pleasure to make a motion to appoint Mr. Saud Gazanfer to the vacancy to District Four.
Member Traynere stated I am very excited to be able to vote "yes" today on the appointee that has been nominated. I want to share some information on why I abstained from the vote last week. Up until the morning I did intend to vote "yes" for the nominee, but after receiving some last minute revelations that didn't sit well with me because it seemed to circumvent the County Board by legislative fiat, and that fiat was only going to affect Will County, I just couldn't support the process any longer because I felt the process and the principle of how we were doing this was wrong. I felt that it was being done in a very secretive way, a very rushed way. We had a process when I first came on to this Board in 2008, and that process was to include precinct committeeman in the County Board district where the vacancy occurred. We had no such meeting up until last night. Now we've had that meeting and I feel very good about moving forward. I'm hoping that we will be able to keep this process, and I know that we're going to talk about SB1015 in the Executive Meeting today. I am very excited about this nominee and I wish it had been handled this way from the very beginning. Thank you.
Member Berkowicz stated good morning Executive Bertino-Tarrant. On the agenda I looked in my email and I don't see any information regarding the individual that you're bringing forward and we're supposed to vote and we don't have any information. Is there anything available for the people who weren't part of that meeting last night?
Speaker Cowan stated Mr. Saud Gazanfer has been a dedicated member of the Democratic party for a number of years. He has run for office before. He works and lives in the community and the Democratic party feels he's an a spectacular choice to fill the seat on the County Board. Given the nature of the operations of the last week or so, this decision was only made last night, so there was not time to give you a resume, and that's actually not something we normally do for County Board appointments anyway. We relied on the caucus to make and support the nominations. I would be happy to introduce you more fully to Mr. Saud Gazanfer next week when we're all in person together.
Member Berkowicz stated what is his name? His name isn't even on the agenda.
Speaker Cowan stated his name is Saud Gazanfer and if you would like to abstain or vote "no" you're welcome to.
Member Berkowicz stated I'm just saying that there's no transparency. We're having a meeting this morning and we're supposed to cast a vote with absolutely no information. I am stunned by this. It's on the record. Thank you.
Member Fricilone stated I would just like to say to my caucus that this is a decision that's made by my colleagues on the Democratic side. They've come together and they have made this decision. I support that because District Four does need full representation, so I'll be voting "yes" and I ask our caucus to vote "yes" as well. Thank you.
Executive Bertino-Tarrant stated we had a previous roll.
Member Ogalla stated excuse me Executive Bertino-Tarrant, I am aware that some of my caucus members may have a different vote.
| RESULT: APPROVED [17 TO 0]
MOVER: Mimi Cowan, Speaker, District 11 (D - Naperville) SECONDER: Rachel Ventura, District 9 (D - Joliet) AYES: Newquist, Koch, Moustis, Tyson, Traynere, Mueller, Gould, VanDuyne, Fricilone, Brooks Jr., Winfrey, Parker, Ventura, Coleman, Marcum, Cowan, Freeman ABSTAIN: Ogalla, Mitchell, Fritz, Berkowicz ABSENT: Balich, Pretzel, Weigel, Kraulidis |
| RESULT: APPROVED [17 TO 0]
MOVER: Mimi Cowan, Speaker, District 11 (D - Naperville) SECONDER: Herbert Brooks Jr., District 8 (D - Joliet) AYES: Newquist, Koch, Moustis, Tyson, Traynere, Mueller, Gould, VanDuyne, Fricilone, Brooks Jr., Winfrey, Parker, Ventura, Coleman, Marcum, Cowan, Freeman ABSTAIN: Ogalla, Mitchell, Fritz, Berkowicz ABSENT: Balich, Pretzel, Weigel, Kraulidis |
VIII. OTHER OLD BUSINESS
IX. NEW BUSINESS
X. OTHER NEW BUSINESS
XI. PUBLIC COMMENT RELEVANT TO MATTERS UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF THE COUNTY
XII. COMMENTS BY COUNTY BOARD MEMBERS
XIII. ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE MAJORITY LEADER, MINORITY LEADER AND COUNTY BOARD SPEAKER
Member Mueller stated I just want to thank everyone for coming together to get this seat filled today. I think we're making history today in Will County and I just want to let everyone know that they can remember that they're part of it. Thank you.
XIV. EXECUTIVE SESSION
XV. ADJOURNMENT
https://willcountyil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=12&ID=4261&Inline=True
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