If voters elect him as Will County Executive, Nick Ficarello said he can stop the Democrats from being in control of every county office.
By John Ferak, Patch Staff
Jun 8, 2020 12:00 am CT | Updated Jun 8, 2020 12:22 am CT
JOLIET, IL — Last December, Will County Executive Larry Walsh cast a tie-breaking vote in favor of enacting a new 4-cent per gallon fuel tax across Will County. Several months earlier, Walsh announced he would not seek a fifth term because of health concerns. Last week, the Democrat from Elwood died at age 72 after a lengthy battle with cancer.
The Will County Board meets at 9:30 a.m. Monday to discuss filling Walsh’s vacancy.
In March’s Democratic primary, Walsh’s long-time chief of staff Nick Palmer lost in a landslide to outgoing State Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant. In the Republican primary, Nick Ficarello had no opposition. He goes against Bertino-Tarrant in November’s general election.
Joliet Patch recently interviewed Ficarello to learn why he thinks he can beat Bertino-Tarrant. The Will County Executive’s Office has been held by Democrats since Walsh’s 2004 victory over Joe Mikan, a Republican officeholder from Lockport.
“I’m not for any more taxes,” Ficarello told Joliet Patch’s editor. “We’ve got to find a way to get rid of the gasoline taxes. I would immediately move to repeal the 4-cent Will County fuel tax. That will need approval from the County Board.”
Ficarello maintains he has plenty of name recognition across the county after working at the Will County Sheriff’s Office from 1978 until 2009. He later served as Braidwood’s police chief from 2015 until 2019. At the sheriff’s office, he served as deputy chief of investigations and special operations, he said.
In the 2014 Republican primary, Ficarello lost by a slim margin to Ken Kaupas in the race to become the next Will County Sheriff. Democrat Mike Kelley went on to defeat Kaupas in the 2014 general election, and Kelley remains in office to this day.
At the moment, all of Will County’s key political offices are held by Democrats, Ficarello said. “We don’t have to look far to see an example of what happens when one party has complete control. For decades Chicago has been run into the ground by Illinois Democrats. Chicago taxes and debt are out of control, and the Will County Democrats seem hell-bent on doing the same here,” Ficarello’s campaign website informs voters.
For that reason, he said voters would be wise to elect him to serve as an important check and balance on their power. After 16 years of Democrat control in the County Executive’s Office, Ficarello believes Will County’s voters “are probably ready for a change in direction, a change in leadership.”
Ficarello told Patch he strongly opposed Walsh’s vote last December to impose the new 4-cent per gallon fuel tax across Will County to generate more revenue for county government coffers.
Ficarello said he will make repealing the fuel tax a high priority if elected, realizing he will need the county board’s backing to get rid of the fuel tax.
“Every office is controlled by the Democrats, and it’s gotten us higher taxes,” Ficarello said. “I think Republicans can win key offices … I think I proved my leadership as a police officer and as a deputy chief and chief of police at Braidwood, and I think I’m not a career politician.”
Ficarello said he lives in Manhattan, and wants voters to know he came out strongly opposed to the NorthPoint Development project that the Joliet City Council approved by a 6-3 margin in April.
He believes there needs to be a greater push to attract more manufacturing jobs to Will County. He pointed out that Bertino-Tarrant did not publicly oppose NorthPoint. Her name is not included on the website Just Say No To NorthPoint.
“I was against NorthPoint, and she never came out against it,” Ficarello said.
He also wanted voters to know that no special interest groups or political action committees are putting money into his campaign.
Ficarello grew up in Joliet, graduating from the old Joliet East High School in 1974.
