Endorsement: Will County executive: Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant

The next Will County executive will fill the shoes of one of the most well-respected public servants in our area.

Larry Walsh Sr. was known for his devotion to residents and his efforts to work across the aisle in serving a large and diverse county. Walsh died in June after a long battle with cancer.

Even as Will County has made a name for itself as a significant part of the state’s economy, local leaders face a choice of how to balance continued growth with the concerns of residents about their quality of life.

In the race to succeed Walsh, we believe the candidate with the experience and vision to tackle these challenges, work for all residents and continue Walsh’s work is Democrat Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant.

During her time in the Illinois Senate, Bertino-Tarrant has championed everyday issues facing residents, particularly education. As a former teacher and school administrator, she’s pushed for legislation to address the state’s teacher shortage and provide more relief for schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She also worked on changes to the state’s school funding formula in 2017, a significant piece of legislation that state officials touted as a win for school districts and, the hope is, taxpayers.

Bertino-Tarrant also has positioned herself as a politician who prioritizes compromise and progress over partisan bickering. She consistently has decried how ideological or political divisions have kept the state from solving big problems, even to the point where some in her party have criticized her for her more moderate positions.

That’s why she will make a successful county executive. Rarely are the fights at the local level about ideological disagreements over hot button issues, but rather the kitchen table problems that affect residents’ everyday lives.

Those bread and butter issues are the ones Bertino-Tarrant has focused on in her career in elected office.

The Republican in the race, Nick Ficarello, also has a long record of public service in law enforcement in Will County, most recently as chief of police in Braidwood. His work on decreasing the city’s number of opioid overdose deaths and his focus on that epidemic during this campaign are especially commendable.

But Ficarello has shown a willingness to wade into partisan fights that border on the irresponsible, such as his recent suggestion that public health data on local COVID-19 cases was “inflated,” which somehow meant we were “living in a state of deception.”

While the Illinois Department of Public Health and Gov. JB Pritzker have received their fair share of criticism for their response to the pandemic, those seeking public office should not distort the real and present danger this virus poses.

Will County government needs a leader who will listen to the experts, put aside partisan disputes and focus on the real problems residents face. Bertino-Tarrant is the candidate we trust to fill that role.

Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant is endorsed.

Will County Board
District 12 endorsements

Tom Weigel has been a principled conservative during his nearly 16 years on the Will County Board. Even if he is not the most aggressive during spirited debates, he tends to ask incisive questions to fight for honest and effective government on behalf of the taxpayer. Weigel is endorsed.

JoAnne Hamilton-Gunkel’s experience as a teacher and her work on behalf of organized labor makes her an ideal candidate for the Will County Board. She’s listened to residents about the county’s infrastructure needs and offers a clear argument about why it’s an issue in need of addressing. Hamilton-Gunkel is endorsed.

Will County Board
District 13 endorsements

Debbie Kraulidis brings a wealth of government experience centered in Will County with her service on the Plainfield Township Board of Trustees and for State Rep. Mark Batinick. While she is assertive in her conservative principles, she’s showed an openness to other sensible ideas, such as doing more to level the playing field for businesses owned by women and people of color to secure government contracts. Kraulidis is endorsed.

Mica Freeman would be a true representative of working people on the Will County Board, bringing her years of experience as a teacher and volunteer. She’s also proved her willingness to continue fighting as she continues to run for office even after narrowly losing a challenge for a seat in the Illinois legislature in 2018. Freeman is endorsed.