Joe Gottemoller (R-Crystal Lake), chairperson, McHenry County Board.

The McHenry County Board formally approved a referendum question seeking input on whether voters want a reduction in board representation, from its current 24-member panel, which will be placed on the Nov. 8 election ballot.

The 14-6 affirmative nod, came during its June 7 regular meeting.

The actual question will identify that any reduction will be slated for implementation in 2021, after the U.S. Census canvass, and it does not specify an actual number to target for reduction. Board members arrived at the decision, following lengthy discussion on a reduction being counterproductive to good governance, or a positive efficiency move.

“Personally, I’m in favor of reducing the board membership and there’s lots of different ways to do this,” said Joe Gottemoller (R-Crystal Lake), the board’s chairperson. “What originally triggered this … we have 25 people including the chair that are making decisions and how many people do you need in each district to make those decisions.

“There are county systems, such as Cook and Los Angeles, that are larger than some states and there’s a contingent that’s missing the point,” he said. “You get the same ratio, like in the 1960s … one person, one vote. It’s not if you have more land, you get more votes. My sentiment is that we don’t need that many people on our board making decisions every day.”

Gottemoller also said that the Illinois State Constitution allows a county board to vote to reduce its own ranks, every 10 years. It coincides with the census, set for 2020, and assesses population totals for a given area. The last census showed that McHenry County has a population of 308,000.

Anna May Miller (R-Cary), McHenry County Board.

“This came out of the board’s Management Services Committee, and it was delayed, because of discussions with a difference of opinion,” said Anna May Miller (R-Cary), committee member. “It finally got to the board since this is an opportunity for honest public feedback during a presidential election, which historically has a high turnout.

“It was about re-structuring the territory and districts, after the decennial census, and there are different scenarios on how to do this effectively,” she said. “Do we have a single size district, is there a reduction in representation … that’s to be discussed, no what the chairman is an at-large position. It’s my perspective that the benefits package should be reasonable, with a reasonable salary, and nothing out of line.”

The Nov. 8 ballot question is a non-binding referendum question, making the results more of an advisory notice than actual elective legislation by constituents. Gottemoller believes the numbers will also spur movement and discussion. “This will nudge the talks to something formative in leading up to the point where it is acted upon,” he said.

Following the decennial census, the board will have the opportunity to craft a binding referendum question of its membership reduction, for the 2021 election ballot, and that result being effectuated in the 2022 election, with a potential board seats being diminished.

“This is the chance for the public to supply pertinent information on how they want to proceed, and how they want to be represented,” said Miller.

Voting in favor of the measure were: Anna May Miller (R-Cary), Robert Martens (R-Spring Grove), Carolyn Scholfield (R-Crystal Lake), Larry Smith (R-Harvard), Nick Provenzano (R-McHenry), Michael Skala (R-Huntley), Chuck Wheeler (R-McHenry), Yvonne Barnes (R-Cary), Michella Aavang (R-Woodstock), Michael Walkup (R-Crystal Lake), Sue Draffkorn (R-Wonder Lake), Don Kopsell (R-Crystal Lake), Anrew Gasser (R-Fox River Grove) and Joe Gottemoller (R-Crystal Lake).

Voting against the measure were: Donna Kurtz R-Crystal Lake), John Hammerand (R-Wonder Lake), Robert Nowak (R-Lake In The Hills), Mary McCann (R-Woodstock), Michael Rein (R-Woodstock), and Dianne Evertsen (R-Harvard).

Tina Hill (R-Woodstock), Jeff Thorsen (R-Crystal Lake), John Jung (R-Woodstock) and James Heisler (R-Crystal Lake) were absent and did not vote.