Republicans elect new chair for Will County Board, Steve Balich to be Republican leader

By Michelle Mullins

Daily Southtown

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Dec 05, 2022 at 3:56 pm

Longtime Will County Board member Judy Ogalla of Monee was selected as chair of the evenly split Will County Board Monday after all 22 recently elected board members were sworn in.

Ogalla, a Republican, has been on the board since 2012 and most recently was minority whip.

Democrats nominated Joe Van Duyne of Wilmington, the most recent chair of the Public Works and Transportation Committee. But the new board is split with 11 Democrats and 11 Republicans, representing 11 districts. Denise Winfrey, a Democrat from Joliet who is the president of the National Association of Counties, left early for national county business, leaving Democrats only 10 votes for Van Duyne.

The role of chair, formerly known as speaker, is the legislative leader for the board who presides over board meetings in the absence of the elected county executive, assigns matters to committees and prepares agendas.

Ogalla said her goal is to be fair and work for the residents. She said she will make committee assignments as close to 50/50 as possible.

“My caucus is going to be fair,” Ogalla said.

All 22 county board positions were up for election in November, and seven of the 11 districts will be represented by one Republican and one Democrat. Two districts, including those that represent all or portions of Homer Glen, Mokena, New Lenox, Frankfort and Manhattan, will be represented by two Republicans. Two districts, representing areas of Joliet and Bolingbrook, will be served by two Democrats.

County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, a Democrat, will vote to break ties.

“Whoever was going to be chair was going to have a divided board,” Ogalla said. “I think this makes it very bipartisan because the executive is a Democrat. My goal is to work as closely as possible to do the business of the people. My goal is to be fair and not give one side power over the other where possible.”

Democrats selected Jacqueline Traynere of Bolingbrook to be the board’s Democratic leader, and Republicans selected Steve Balich of Homer Glen as the Republican leader. Until the November election, Democrats held a majority and these positions were known as majority and minority leaders.

Traynere has been a board member since 2008, and Balich has been a board member since 2012.

Balich, who also serves as Homer Township supervisor and chair of the Homer Township Republican Organization, said he looks forward to serving as a member of county leadership and having a good working relationship with other leaders. He said he likes the idea to make committees equally split among party lines.

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Both Balich and Traynere said although they may be in opposite parties, they can find agreement on county business.

“It’s always going to work out at the end of the day,” Traynere said. “If there’s a tie vote, 11-11, Jennifer breaks those ties, and she also has veto power, so if she really doesn’t like something, she can veto it.”

A vote to override a veto requires 3/5 of the members.

“Certainly I would refer to us as a team of rivals, much in the way Lincoln’s cabinet was,” Traynere said. “Steve and I have similar views on some things, but very very different views on many others.”

Will County Clerk Lauren Staley-Ferry, Sheriff Mike Kelley and Treasurer Tim Brophy, who were reelected in November, were sworn into office Thursday.

The Will County Board includes 13 returning members and nine newcomers. Term lengths alternate, so each member will either serve for two or four years depending on which district they represent. The board recently downsized from 26 members to 22 members.

Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter.