Will County Board chief of staff steps down

The chief of staff to the Will County Board stepped down from her position earlier this month, according to the speaker of the board.

Speaker Mimi Cowan, D-Naperville, confirmed that Moira Dunn’s last day as chief of staff to the board was Aug. 7.

“Moira was a valued part of the team,” Cowan said. “I think she’s definitely going to be missed.”

Cowan said that Dunn left county government on “very positive terms.”

Dunn came to the County Board in December 2018 after Democrats captured the majority during that year’s midterm elections. She was previously a prosecutor with the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office.

“I think she was looking forward to getting back to the legal world,” Cowan said.

The speaker said she hopes to come up with a possible replacement for Dunn in the next couple of weeks. The chief of staff serves at the pleasure of the County Board.

Cowan said that the timing of having to fill the chief of staff position is “unique” because there will be a new County Board voted in during the November election. Whichever party takes the majority will elect a speaker.

Cowan was tapped to fill the role in June after Denise Winfrey, D-Joliet, was appointed to be the interim Will County executive after the death of Larry Walsh Sr.

While Winfrey had to resign her County Board seat to fill in for Walsh, she is still on the ballot to be re-elected to the board in November.

Winfrey and Herbert Brooks Jr. are unchallenged in the race to represent District 9, which covers much of Joliet.