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SYCAMORE – Four DeKalb County residents will find out if they’ll be on the ballot for a DeKalb County Board seat later this year after the March 19 primary election.
Phyllis Brown, Tim Hughes, Jerry Osland and Lawrence West, all Republicans, are in contested primaries for the Republican Party nomination for two DeKalb County Board seats.
Fourteen of the 24 seats on the DeKalb County Board are up for grabs in the Nov. 8 general election, but there are only two contested primary races.
District 1
Hughes and West, both former DeKalb County Board members, are competing for the Republican Party’s District 1 nomination.
In March 2022, Hughes resigned from the DeKalb County Board. He said he made that decision because his job at the time had him flying across the U.S., inspecting crude oil pipelines, and didn’t have enough time to read over County Board materials before being asked to vote on legislation.
Now working from within DeKalb County, and with a daughter in college, Hughes said he has the time for the job. When asked what voters should know about him, Hughes said he’s “a straight shooter.”
“I call it the way I see it and I try not to mince words. And I’m going to do what’s best for the county and it’s people, I’m not going to do what’s good for my pocketbook, or anything like that,” Hughes said.
West, when asked to share his platform, declined to speak with Shaw Local News Network about his campaign.
District 11
Phyllis Brown and Jerry Osland are seeking the Republican Party’s nominations in District 11.
Brown was unavailable for requests to comment on her campaign.
Osland, who frequently speaks his mind during DeKalb County Board meetings, also declined to elaborate on his campaign.
“I think my opinion and record on things are pretty well known,” Osland said.
Osland was one of two Republicans that joined Democrats in voting for a referendum, which would have asked voters if they support a property tax to help the DeKalb County Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, in an an 11-11 split vote that largely fell along party lines in July 2022.
Also – when Ellingsworth Webb, a Democrat from District 9, was elected Chair of the DeKalb County Board on Feb. 28, Osland cast the lone vote against Webb’s nomination. Webb is the first Black Chair of the DeKalb County Board.