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Editor’s note: This is Part 2 of a two-part series looking at candidates running for DeKalb County Board in the general election. The second part, focused on Districts 6-9, will run in Friday’s print paper. For more information on all election candidates, referendum and other information, check out the Daily Chronicle’s Election Central online at shawlocal.com/daily-chronicle/election.
SYCAMORE – DeKalb County voters on Nov. 5 will choose who next represents them on the DeKalb County Board.
The County Board helps determine policy countywide, has a say in how locals are taxed and what that money is used for, and also votes on budgets for county offices including the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, the DeKalb County Health Department and the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Districts 6 through 9
In Districts 6, 7, 8 and 9, four incumbent Democratic Party candidates, including the current DeKalb County Board Chair are running unopposed.
Barring unexpected circumstances, all four will continue to represent their respective districts for another four-year term.
Meryl Domina will represent District 6, which includes northwest DeKalb Township; Terri Mann-Lamb will represent District 7, which encompasses the central-northern area of the city of DeKalb; Christopher Porterfield will represent District 8, which encompasses central northern section of DeKalb Township; and DeKalb County Board Chair Ellingsworth Webb will represent District 9, which includes the eastern section of the city of DeKalb.
District 10
District 10 includes the southwestern section of the city of DeKalb.
Democrat incumbent Laura L. Hoffman is running to retain her seat against Republican Susan Smith Lindell.
Hoffman and Lindell did not respond to requests for comment on their campaigns, but they did fill out a Shaw Local candidate questionnaire.
Hoffman, 55, who was appointed to the seat in February 2024, wrote that she wants to serve a full term on the County Board and believes she has the “necessary skills, time and right attitude to be an excellent representative.”
She also said an overall goal of her’s is to not increase the property levy on existing property owners.
“We all want to keep property taxes as low as possible without sacrificing necessary services,” Hoffman wrote. “Encouraging businesses to invest in our community produces results. It is also important for all of us individuals to use our buying power locally.”
Lindell, a retired business owner and a certified public accountant, said she’s running to bolster the County Board’s financial oversight.
“I prefer using tax monies wisely rather than spending capriciously and then raising taxes to cover those expenses,” Lindell wrote. “I am also concerned with the encroachment of mega complexes on our farmland built by corporations that fail to provide adequate job opportunities for DeKalb County residents.”
District 11
District 11 includes all of Milan, Clinton, Squaw Grove, Paw Paw and Victor townships as well as the southern half of Afton and Pierce townships, and a third of Somonauk Township. The district has two seats up for a vote on Tuesday.
Democrat Shell “Celeste” DeYoung Dunn, and incumbent Republican Roy Plote are vying for a four-year term. Republican incumbent Joseph Marcinkowski is competing against Democrat Anna Wilhelmi, who also chairs the DeKalb County Democratic Party, for a two-year unexpired term.
Plote and Marcinkowski did not fill out Shaw Local candidate questionnaires and did not respond to requests for comment. Wilhelmi, 61, did respond to a request for comment on her campaign, and also filled out the questionnaire.
Wilhelmi has been among the most vocal and consistent members of the public who have called on the DeKalb County Board to retain ownership of the DeKalb County Rehab and Nursing Center, and was appointed chair of the center’s new Oversight Board. The body was created by the DeKalb County Board following the termination of a sale with a private buyer for the health care facility.
She wrote that the reason she’s running for the County Board, in part, has to do with making sure the facility becomes its “best self.”
“We have residents and families who depend on County care, and those most vulnerable should be taken care of within our own DeKalb County,” Wilhelmi wrote. “I also want to do my part to take care of our earth and water, and that means being mindful and promoting clean energy in our County.”
DeYoung Dunn, 69, responded to the questionnaire and Shaw Local’s request for comment. She wrote that she wants to be a fresh voice for DeKalb County and has a particular passion for public transportation.
“Down here it’s been traditionally conservative, and it was doing really, really good until just fairly recently, when it seemed like we were not being heard anymore,” DeYoung Dunn said. “It also seemed like the people that were in power in the County Board in this district weren’t really doing much either, for the county people.”
District 12
Democrat Traci Griffin-Lappe is competing against incumbent Republican Jerry Osland for the one open seat from District 12, which includes the eastern side of Somonauk Township, including the city of Sandwich.
Osland, who has served on the board since December 2016, did not fill out a candidate questionnaire, and declined to comment on his campaign when reached by Shaw Local.
Griffin-Lappe, 53, did not respond to a request for comment, but did fill out the Shaw Local candidate questionnaire. She wrote that she’s running for DeKalb County Board because she has seen the impacts of losing obstetrics and newborn care at Northwestern Medicine Valley West Hospital in Sandwich. She wants to champion expanded health care services, especially to underserved communities in DeKalb County.
She wrote that she’s also a supporter of unions and solar energy.
“Our community prospers when unions are strong,” Griffin-Lappe wrote. “DeKalb County embraces renewable energy, and I’ll support solar farms and other sustainable solutions for a greener county. It’s time for a board member who puts our community first. I’ll fight for healthcare access, union jobs and green energy.”