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Editor’s Note: The following is Part 1 of a three-part series featuring candidate stories from a three-night virtual forum event hosted by the DeKalb County League of Women Voters and WNIJ radio and the DeKalb Public Library. Read part 2 about the DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder’s Race here. Read part 2.5 about the Illinois state representative for District 76 race here. Visit www.shawlocal.com/news/election for more.
Full video recordings of all three nights’ forums can be found on WNIJ’s Facebook page.
DeKALB – An $8.3 million sale of the DeKalb County nursing home, solar energy and taxes were among issues debated during this week’s DeKalb County Board candidate forum for Districts 1, 3 and 4.
The event was part of a three-night virtual candidate forum series hosted by the DeKalb County League of Women Voters, the DeKalb Public Library and WNIJ.
While the three candidates from District 1 were invited to take part in the forum, Fred Hall, a Democrat, was the only person who participated. Because he was the only one from the district to attend the forum, Hall was given two minutes to seek support from voters.
Hall said he was unhappy with a July 21 DeKalb County Board vote to move forward with a sale of the financially struggling DeKalb County Rehabilitation and Nursing Center for $8,300,100 to Evanston-based Illuminate HC, a private healthcare company which specializes in operating skilled nursing facilities.
“I do not like any type of privatization,” Hall said. “Every time I have seen privatization take place, such as in prisons, have always – the prison has gone down hill and winds up costing the tax payers more money to revamp them.”
District 4
DeKalb County Board candidates for District 4 included Repulican Elizabeth Lundeen, and Democrat Stewart Ogilvie.
Jan Dorner, a member of the League of Women Voters of Elmhurst, moderated the forums. She said that Laurie Emmer, a District 4 Republican candidate and incumbent was unable to attend the session, and candidate Brett Johansen did not reply to the invitation.
Lundeen, a mother of three daughters, used her opening remarks to introduce herself to the public. A newcomer to public office, Lundeen said she’s attended school board meetings in 2020 and 2021 to learn about government.
“I am really excited to be getting my feet wet into this political arena,” Lundeen said. “This is going to be my first go at it and I cannot wait to have the opportunity to represent the constituents of District 4.”
Both District 4 candidates were asked if they support or oppose climate change mitigation efforts in DeKalb County.
Ogilvie said he supports green energy, such as solar farms, even if they take away land from the agriculture. Ogilvie said the county has a lot of land and solar farms wouldn’t take away from farmable land.
“There are, we are taking land, or the farmers would be using the land to lay out their solar arrays and it would be regenerating the land underneath it,” Ogilvie said. “Switching the crops back and forth does help when it comes to rejuvenating the farm land, but natural decomposition is more important under the solar panels.”
Lundeen said she would hold conversations with District 4 residents to learn what they want to see in DeKalb County. She also said she wouldn’t make take board action without soliciting facts.
“So I’m always going to stick to facts,” Lundeen said. “I’m always going to stick to conversations with my constituents and see what it is that they want to have happen in DeKalb County.”
Both Lundeen and Ogilvie asked about the polarized political climate and what experiences or issues compelled them to run for public office.
Ogilvie, who grew up in DeKalb County, said he was asked to participate as a candidate for the county board.
“And I thought, well, this would probably be the best way that I could think of to give back,” Ogilvie said.
Lundeen said she’s had a lot of opinions over the past two years, but she, too, was also asked to step into public office.
“What you see is what you get with Liz Lundeen,” she said. “I’m very transparent but I just have a lot of energy.”
District 3
All three Dekalb County Board candidates for District 3 were present for Tuesday’s forum – Repbulican and incumbent Tim Bagby, who’s held county board office since 2016; Republican Keegan Reynolds, and Democrat Amber Quitno.
Bagby said while going door to door for his campaign, constituents told him that taxes and high inflation are hurting them. He also recalled his efforts to get a slower speed limit set on Plank Road.
“And one of the things I think it’s important to note is the county board over the last couple of years has managed to hold the line on taxes,” Bagby said. “In addition, I think public safety is on people’s minds. I think we need to be supportive of our law enforcement officers and respectful of them as well.”
Quitno, a lifelong county resident, said she’s running because she feels she’s “a qualified leader,” who can lean on her Master’s degree in regulatory affairs.
“I’m a very well known local activist fighting for safe and clean water in Sycamore,” Quitno said. Quitno referred to ongoing concerns raised by Sycamore residents for years related to water quality in their homes.
Bagby and Quitno both talked about the SAFE-T Act – a controversial crime bill that will enact a cash-free bail ssystem on Jan. 1 – when asked what challenges DeKalb County faces in the near future. DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan and DeKalb County State’s Attorney Rick Amato, both Republicans, last week filed a lawsuit to suspend certain portions of the legislation, claiming the bill would put communities at risk.
“I think there are not only safety issues with that but there are also some budgetary implications with some overtime that may happen as a result trying to implement that. And so those are going to cause some budgetary pressures as we move forward,” Bagby said.
All three candidates were asked if their support climate change mitigation efforts and industries, such as solar power.
Reynolds said he believes in climate change, however, he doesn’t support mitigation efforts that prevent farm land in the county from being used agriculturally. Reynolds cited what he called DeKalb County’s fertile soil which he believes should be used for producing food.
“As far as solar and wind in DeKalb County, I cannot be a proponent for those technologies, because I look at things regionally,” Reynolds said. “And I think that every region of our country, based on climate, and where we live and the type of economies that we have, there should be different types of renewable technologies that are used in order to meet those different needs.”
Quitno said she believes in climate change and supports solar farming.
“We need to stay on top of the technology so that we can adjust the ordinances and, to really push solar and green energy,” Quitno said.
Bagby borrowed the language of prohibition by saying he’s “neither a wet nor a dry when it comes to solar energy.”
During his closing remarks, Reynolds railed against the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of the June Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, the Mississippi court case that challenged and spurred the reversal of Roe v. Wade, which had protected abortion under federal law.
“It is an overstep of the judicial branch on millions of Americans, and I believe it is also an attack on the United States of America because of the polarization that it is causing amongst the people,” Reynolds said. He also said he believes those who use threatening rhetoric against elected officials should be labeled an enemy of the country.
This story has been edited as of 9:15 p.m. Oct. 22, 2022 to correct a typo in a quote by Keegan Reynolds, a Republican candidate for DeKalb County Board District 3. The accurate quote should read “And I think that every region of our country, based on climate, and where we live and the type of economies that we have, there should be different types of renewable technologies that are used in order to meet those different needs.”