With few fireworks and little fanfare, the McHenry County Board appointed Christopher Spoerl to fill its vacant seat.
Board members voted at a special meeting Thursday, 20-2, to appoint the Republican from Cary to fill the remaining term of Andrew Gasser, who stepped down in May after his election as Algonquin Township highway commissioner.
…Board members Michael Walkup, R-Crystal Lake, and Tom Wilbeck, R-Barrington Hills, voted “no.” Member Yvonne Barnes, R-Cary, did not vote, citing a financial conflict of interest.
Board Chairman Jack Franks, D-Marengo, chose Spoerl from a pool of six applicants. He announced the pick Monday.
A last-minute endorsement of Spoerl by McHenry County Republican Party leadership blunted criticism and what otherwise could have been a closer vote. Spoerl was advanced by Franks over the two candidatesthe party recommended. But a mother-daughter political duo and a County Board member raised opposition to Spoerl’s selection.
Former Republican board member Lou Anne Majewski, who lives in Barrington Hills in District 1, accused GOP board members during public comment of playing into the Democratic board chairman’s hands, and said she was so infuriated over it that she couldn’t read her notes. She was joined by her daughter, Coroner Anne Majewski, who expressed anger that District 1 board members were not involved in the selection process.
“Why can’t you vote what you know is right? Vote your conscience. Go down and be in the minority. There’s nothing wrong with that. Go home and be able to say you did the right thing,” Lou Anne Majewski said.
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