Cary Dairy owner announces bid for Cary mayor

Cary Dairy owner and former firefighter Randy Scott has announced his intention to run for mayor in next year’s local election.

After serving as a firefighter for the Cary Fire Protection District for 10 years, Scott and his wife opened Cary Dairy, at 395 Cary Algonquin Road, in 2021. Located across the street from the fire station, Scott said he would always look at the storefront while at the fire station and see families ride their bikes past it.

With so many liquor stores, video gaming and smoke shops, Scott wanted to create something positive for families.

“I wanted to give something for kids to enjoy,” he said.

Scott decided to get involved with local politics after his experiences with opening the business let him see “behind the curtain” of how the village operates. He thinks there are some things that can be improved, he said. He also previously got involved with the community by donating three pet oxygen masks to the Cary Fire Protection District in 2022.

“Progress is disruptive. We need to have some friction to move things forward,” he said. “I’m just crazy enough to think I can calibrate the compass.”

The village filed a lawsuit in 2022 and issued more than $5,000 in fines against Cary Dairy for violating the village’s ordinance regulating signs. A window sign installed by the ice cream shop was more than 400% larger than maximum allowed, according to court documents.

The village alleged in the ongoing civil suit that the sign poses a “grave threat to the life and safety of the community” and “immediate action is necessary to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of the community is protected to the greatest extent possible.”

Scott said he was disappointed the village reacted to a new local business in that way rather than looking to work with them. Scott also said he’s launching a “local politics hub” called Club Cary where he will stream and host in-person village board meeting watch parties with free and subscription-based content.

He Described Club Cary as “not a red-versus-blue thing” and said he hopes it will be a centralized place for residents to have access to and awareness of resources.

“It’s not about pointing fingers, but more about results,” he said.

Mayor Mark Kownick, who is serving his third term, declined to comment on whether he plans to run for re-election. He’s been Cary’s mayor since 2013.

A guide and calendar for next year’s local elections have not been finalized by the McHenry County Clerk’s Office, Chief Deputy Clerk Debra Nieto said. Statutes state that, in order to get their names on the ballot, candidates must get signatures from a minimum of 5% and no more than 8% of the number of people voted in the last election.

Scott said he views some recent actions by the village, such as the electrical aggregation program and inserting home rule information in village mail, as being in “poor taste.”

The new electrical program gave residents who currently use ComEd as their power supplier the option to opt out, otherwise they are automatically enrolled into the program. This is about 36% of households in Cary, an official from NiMec, an energy consultant with Cary, said last year. Other residents were given the option to opt-in, something Scott thinks should have been the option for everyone.

Scott, 35, also noted the recent dispute between District 26 and the village over the district wanting to put in a new transportation center at the Maplewood property. In May, village officials refused to change the village’s code to allow for a transportation center in a residential area. Scott said he believes in taking care of the people who take care of the village’s kids.

“We shouldn’t let personal goals get in the way of the city’s progression,” he said.

McHenry County court records Scott has a pending misdemeanor charge of obstructing a police officer, filed by the Cary Police Department in March. Scott has pleaded not guilty to, according to court documents; the case is due to go to trial in November.

Scott said the incident leading to the charge occurred on a morning he was due for court for the village’s lawsuit against Cary Dairy. He said he suffered a “medical emergency” that led him to be confused, and that officers mistook his actions for obstruction when they were called to assist him in the medical emergency. Scott is representing himself in the case, he said.

According to court documents, police were called to the home because of an “argument” and “due to Randolph’s [being] aggressive and him not complying with lawful orders he was placed under arrest.”

This is the first time Scott has considered running for mayor, he said. During the last election, he was busy with a newborn and getting Cary Dairy off the ground. His main goal is to get the village to improve working with other agencies like the fire and police departments and school districts.

“I want to fight for Cary,” he said. “I want to respond to the fire and put it out.”

If elected, Scott hopes to accomplish his goals within one term and then pass along leadership to the next person.

“If I do the job well enough, I’m not needed anymore,” he said. “The right people will be in the right places.”