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Will County Clerk candidate Gretchen Fritz answered Shaw Local’s election questionnaire for the County Clerk primary election.
Voting ends for the primary election on the evening of June 28.
Full Name: Gretchen Fritz
What office are you seeking? Will County Clerk
What offices, if any, have you previously held? Will County Board, elected in 2014 and 2018
Plainfield Library Trustee
Elected and appointed precinct committeeman
Illinois State Rifle Association Board of Directors
Church assistant treasurer
Church deacon
Church governing board secretary
City: Plainfield
Occupation: I have three jobs: elected official, Branch Office Administrator at Edward Jones and freelance writer, editor and proofreader. I’m also a producer for On Target Radio.
Education: Master of Library and Information Science - University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Bachelor of Science - Millikin University, United Counties Council of Illinois/University of Illinois Extension Leadership Seminar (2020)
Campaign Website: www.fritzforclerk.com
What would be your top three priorities over the next four years?
My number one priority is to improve election integrity by proactively cleaning the voter rolls, following state election laws and cleaning the list of election judges. I will work with other county clerks to lobby the Illinois General Assembly for better election laws, including opposing unfunded mandates and requiring voters to produce identification. I would update the software used to produce marriage certificates which currently requires applicants to select only one race to allow multiracial applicants to select more than one race for that question to improve the accuracy of the data or remove that question entirely if Illinois law allows it.
Taxes are a top concern raised by voters locally. What do you do within your position to address residents’ tax burden?
While the Clerk’s office is not a taxing entity, budgets can always be analyzed and potentially trimmed to reduce the overall taxes needed by the county.
What level of confidence do you think voters have in local elections? What is driving that confidence or lack thereof?
As an elected official, my impression is that voters’ confidence in elections is quite low. I think people question why they don’t have to show I.D. to vote, why did they get a mail-in ballot application for the previous owner of their house, why it is so easy to get a mail-in ballot, why are there unattended ballot drop boxes around the county, why is election day registration allowed? When people see a news story of a woman bragging about voting eight times in one election, it naturally erodes their faith in our voting system.
If you could redo any one decision made by the county clerk in the last four years, what would it be and why?
Will County bought the building at 1300 Copperfield Drive for $500,000, in part because the clerk committed to storing her considerable election equipment there. She subsequently reversed herself and insisted her equipment had to stay in the county building. Then we remodeled the basement of the county building to accommodate that equipment for a cost of over $649,000 while 1300 Copperfield sits empty.
In addition to elections, the county clerk’s office handles a myriad of duties. What do you bring to the table that your opponents do not?
I have a master’s of library and information science which encompasses records management. I have the attention to detail necessary to be trusted with the vital records of the citizens of Will County. I have experience with database cleanup.