Newly elected McHenry County officials to be sworn in Monday to start new term

Several McHenry County elected officials and new County Board members will start their terms first thing Monday morning.

Four new members will join the board: Pat Sullivan, R-Algonquin; John (Jack) Collins, D-Crystal Lake; Deena Krieger, R-Island Lake; and Paul Thomas, R-Wonder Lake. In addition, County Board Chair Mike Buehler and members Eric Hendricks, Mike Shorten, Carl Kamienski, Tracie Von Bergen and Jim Kearns will be sworn in for another term.

Collins previously served on the board and defeated incumbent Republican John Reinert in the November election. He was the only Democratic candidate to win a County Board seat or countywide election this year.

Sullivan defeated incumbent Democrat Theresa Meshes in District 1, while Thomas defeated incumbent Democrat Lou Ness in District 7.

Krieger ran for the open seat vacated by former board member Kelli Wegener, who gave up the chance to seek reelection and instead ran an unsuccessful campaign to defeat Buehler. Krieger defeated Steve Firak in District 5, who was slated by the party after the March primary elections.

The GOP will gain a 15-3 supermajority on the board once the new members are sworn in. Under current board rules, that allows the GOP to take actions that include overriding recommendations from the Zoning Board of Appeals in cases where a proposal gets less than five “yes” votes, a negative recommendation from the hearing officer or an objection from the townships.

Other county officials who took their oaths of office for another term include Auditor Shannon Teresi, Circuit Clerk Kathy Keefe and Coroner Michael Rein.

State’s Attorney-elect Randi Freese will become the first woman to serve as McHenry County’s top prosecutor. Freese has worked at the state’s attorney office for many years, starting as an intern while attending DePaul University College of Law.

Rein and Teresi are expected to be sworn in Monday morning at the County Board room, while Freese will be sworn in at the state’s attorney office, county officials said last week. Keefe will be sworn in Monday at the McHenry County Courthouse.