Thank you.

Good morning.

Today is Tuesday, May 12, 2026, and I call the Lake County Board meeting order at 9 o'clock.

This meeting is being recorded and live streamed on our website, Comcast Channels 18 or 30 and 18TU versus Channel 99, as well as on Zoom at the link on the agenda.

In addition to being able to attend in person, remote attendance has been made available to the public via Zoom.

Her county board rules in the Open Meetings Act, attendance via remote means is permitted for qualifying reasons as long as the majority of the board members are physically present.

We've been notified in advance by Member Hewitt that she requests to participate electronically for medical reasons.

A physical quorum is present, and if there's no discussion, I'll ask county staff to note in the minutes that Member Hewitt is present and eligible to vote on matters before the county board today.

And as a reminder to Member Hewitt, uh please ensure your camera is on at all times.

Thank you.

Before we get into the uh bulk of our meeting, is there anyone members would like for us to remember today during a moment of silence, please?

Thank you, Member Schlick.

Thank you, Chair.

I asked that you all join me in remembering Joe Altman of the Village of Conda.

Joe passed away on April 22nd, he'd had a battle with a number of diseases, and he fought hard and valently over the time.

Joe was a very big pillar of the community of Wakanda, serving on the Park District Board and the Police and Fire Commissioner for over 20 years.

He also was a prominent businessman in the area in his loss, he'll be greatly missed.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

You join me in a moment of silence, please.

One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you.

May I have a roll call, please, Clerk Vega?

Member Altonburg.

Here.

Member Complex here.

Member Casbin.

Here.

Member Clark.

Here.

Member Cuttingham.

Member Danforth.

Member Frank?

Here.

Member Hart.

Here.

Member Hewitt.

Here.

Member Hunter.

Here.

Member Kanishnick.

Here.

Member Kyle.

Member Maine.

Present.

Member Perak.

Here.

Member Peterson.

Prison.

Member Roberts.

Here.

Member Schlick.

Here.

Member Bolitzer.

Here.

Member Wasick.

Here.

Thank you.

We have no addenda to the agenda today.

We have several special recognitions.

The first one is a special recognition of May 9, 2026 as World Migratory Bird Day, to be read by Member Frank.

Thank you, Chair.

Whereas migratory birds are some of the most beautiful and easily observed wildlife that we share with our planet with, share our planet with, and whereas Lake County is part of an important migratory bird route, the Mississippi Flyway, which is one of the busiest migratory corridors in North America.

And whereas many residents recognize and welcome migratory songbirds as symbolic harbingers of spring.

And whereas these migratory species also play an important role in our community by controlling insect populations and attracting birders to our community.

And whereas migratory birds and their habitats are declining throughout the Americas and face a growing number of threats along their migration routes in both their summer and winter habitats.

And whereas public awareness and concern are crucial components of bird conservation, and whereas residents who are enthusiastic about birds, informed about the threats they face, and prepared to take action can directly contribute to the protections of bird populations.

And whereas since 1993, World Migratory Bird Day has provided an opportunity to focus public attention on the nearly 350 species that travel between nesting habitats in our communities and throughout North America and wintering grounds in South and Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Southern United States.

And whereas species such as the Northern Shoveler and the American White Pelican highlight the importance of wetlands and open water for migration, wintering, and breeding, while the Osprey serves as a conservation success story, demonstrating that population declines can be reversed when we work together to conserve and protect our planet.

And whereas, since artificial light at night attracts and disorients nocturnally migrating birds, increasing their risk of collisions and other dangers, we encourage individuals, communities, and the government to dim the lights at night.

And whereas migratory bird days both a celebration of migratory birds and a call to action to support their conservation, now therefore be it recognized by this county board of Lake County, Illinois on May 9th, May 2026, is World Migratory Bird Day.

And residents are urged to support efforts to protect and conserve migratory birds and their habitats in our community and the world at large, dated Waukegan, Illinois, May 12, 2026.

Thank you very much.

We've got some members of the public who are here.

Donnie Dan, who is a uh big advocate for the protection of our native spaces and pays attention to the birds in particular, and the president of Lake County Audubon Society, Carol and Luke.

I think they're both here today.

I'm hopeful.

Maybe not.

Okay.

Can't make it, so we will make sure to send a recognition to each of them.

Um any comments on this item.

All right, I'm just gonna make one comment.

Uh, probably many of you uh, because of our service on the Forest Preserve Board are familiar with Doug Talamy.

He uh is an author and a professor at Iowa, and I was fortunate enough to hear him speak at um Country Day School in Lake Forest, it was sponsored by League of Women Voters of Lake Forest Lake Bluff.

And one of the things that he was talking about in order to protect our songbirds is to really make sure you're providing a habitat at home, and um really that habitat should be should include um protecting habitats for insects, because that is a major food source for our birds, and one of the things that he uh said, if there was just a few things you could do, I think it was in the top two things, it would be to not fog for mosquitoes.

Uh while they can state that uh mosquito fogging is um is all natural, so is um he he brought up a couple of uh poisonous elements that are also all natural, but how you can fog and 30 days later you'll still end up with essentially a dead zone at your home, and he showed a um a handful of dead monarch butterflies uh that somebody had fogged during uh their migration, and there were thousands of um dead monarchs on the ground, it was in uh I think it was in Virginia.

So I would just ask that people you know not fog your properties for mosquitoes, the way to combat mosquitoes is at the larval stage.

So anyway, just wanted to throw that out there, Doug Tallamy did a uh a great presentation.

So uh the next item is special recognition of May 3 through May 9, 2026 is National Correctional Officers Week to be read by Member Roberts.

Thank you, Chair.

Whereas correctional officers and personnel are honored nationwide each May during National Correctional Officers Week, and whereas correctional officers are responsible for the supervision and safety of individuals at the Lake County Adult Correctional Facility who have been arrested, convicted, and or sentenced for criminal offenses, and whereas correctional personnel play a vital role in preparing individuals for successful uh reintegration into the community, which is crucial in protecting public safety.

And whereas the Lake County Adult Correctional Facility partners with the Lake County Health Department as well as nonprofit educational and faith-based organizations to provide intimate programming, uh monitoring services that support successful reentry into the community, and whereas correctional personnel must maintain a um a constant safe and um heightened vigilance, adhere to strict security protocols, and perform their duties under the potential threat of exposure to violence, making their profession both demanding and essential.

Now, therefore, it be recognized by this Lake County Board of Lake County and Lake County, Illinois, that Lake County proclaims May 3rd through May 9th, 2026's National Correctionals Officers Week.

And be it further recognized that this Lake County Board extends its sincere appreciation to the 176 dedicated professionals of the Lake County Sheriff's Adult Correctional Facility for their professionalism, dedication, and courage dated at Wacheegan, Illinois on May 12, 2026.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any comments on this site?

And we do have Deputy Chief Scott Miller, who is here to accept this recognition.

Thank you.

Thanks so much for being here.

Let me see.

Member Roberts, would you come up?

I'm sorry, I should have asked you to do that right away.

Yeah.

Oh, you want us to come back here?

Yes, please, and thank you.

Okay.

You know the girl.

I do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So I'm going to do two.

One, two, three.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Perfect.

Thank you.

Good morning.

On behalf of Sheriff Eidelberg and the Sheriff's Office, thank you for the special recognition of our correctional staff.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

And I just want to say the uh correctional officers, it's been very difficult to recruit.

The Sheriff's Office has been working really hard at that, and so many of them are uh working overtime.

And so it it definitely continues to put people at risk.

And uh I just really appreciate their their hard work and and making sure they're staying safe and keeping uh their clients safe as well.

So thank you very much.

Uh moving on, we have two employee recognition uh this month.

The first is a special recognition of Dr.

Darum Reddy for his 35 years of service to Lake County, whereas Dr.

Reddy has served as a dedicated psychiatrist for more than 35 years, providing behavioral health care to clients of the Lake County Health Department since 1991.

And whereas Dr.

Reddy has consistently demonstrated his commitment to the health department while serving as the interim behavioral health medical director since 2020, and whereas he has devoted significant time to supervising and mentoring psychiatric providers, ensuring his positive influence will continue for years to come, while also providing exceptional direct care to hundreds of behavioral health clients.

And whereas Dr.

Reddy has helped to improve the lives of thousands of behavioral health clients over the course of his career, and whereas for many individuals and families in Lake County, he has been a steady and trusted presence during some of the most challenging moments of their lives.

And whereas Dr.

Reddy has left a lasting impact on countless clients and colleagues alike.

Now, therefore, be it recognized by this county board of Lake County, Illinois, that Dr.

Duram Reddy is celebrating 35 years of dedicated service to the Lake County Health Department.

Dr.

Reddy is a valuable member of the behavioral behavioral health team, and we extend our gratitude for his continued service dated at Waquegan, Illinois on May 12, 2026.

And Dr.

Reddy is here with us today.

Thank you so much for thank you so much for your years of service.

We are very, very grateful.

And we'll stand back here and whoever wants to be in this photo, we'd love to have you.

May I ask you to hold this for minutes?

Thank you so much.

So if I could get you all to just a little.

Thank you.

All right.

And one, two, three.

One more.

And one, two, three.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you all for awarding this.

Yeah, it's been a great pleasure.

Yeah.

Working with the Lake Court of the Department for 35 years.

Yes, it's been a pleasure working with all the staff at uh LCSD and uh for the organization, they have been very supportive.

They have been very supportive.

Thank you all.

Thank you.

Uh, next, we have a special recognition of Sandra Smith for her 35 years of service.

Whereas Sandra Smith joined the Lake County Clerk of the Circuit Court's office in May 1991 and has since become a valued and trusted member of the office.

And whereas, as a court clerk, she supports the legal community, public, judges, and her colleagues with skill and professionalism, demonstrating the ability to excel in a variety of settings, including criminal, civil, probate, and courtroom operations.

And whereas Sandra's extensive knowledge and experience allow her to seamlessly support multiple courtrooms as needed, earning the appreciation and respect of the judges.

And whereas she consistently extends a warm welcome to new employees and is known for her willingness to offer guidance and support.

And whereas she enjoys spending time with her husband and three daughters, especially if they're trying the latest TikTok dance trend.

Now, therefore, be it recognized by this county board of Lake County, Illinois, that Sandra Smith is hereby honored for 35 years of dedicated service to the Lake County Circuit Clerk and Community.

She is a treasured asset, and we are thankful for her continued service.

Dated at Waukegan, Illinois on May 12, 2026.

And I think Sandra's here.

Oh, you know what?

Excuse me.

And then there's also this.

So if you don't want to hear, thank you.

Okay.

And one, two, three.

Thank you.

No.

Sure.

Um, thank you for this recognition for Sandra.

She has been an integral part of this office.

Um, she has taken care of me when I was a young lawyer and has really um shown us what it means to be a dedicated service or part of our office.

She really has stepped up.

Everything that was said in that recognition is very, very true.

She and I'm so appreciative of her.

So thank you, Sandra.

We wouldn't be the same without you.

Are you sure you don't want to say anything?

Just a little.

Thank you all.

This thing.

Thank you.

All right.

Next, we have a presentation of Lake County's America 250 announcements by Deputy County Administrator Matt Myers.

Good morning, board.

Um, Matt Myers, Deputy County Administrator.

This month I'm excited to share an update about our independence academy that has kicked off.

It's one of the many ways, as you're aware, that Lake County is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

We're happy to have some of our Academy participants here with us this morning.

This is a great opportunity for them to see democracy in action at the local level and get a first-hand look at how their elected officials work together to make decisions that affect everyday life in Lake County.

If they would like, I would ask if they want to stand up and be recognized by the board this morning.

Just to give a brief summary, we're currently in the middle of a seven-week academy, which kicked off on April 22nd with an overview of how county government works.

So far, participants have taken part in weekly sessions covering topics like how Lake County government operates, the history of Lake County with the Dunn Museum, presentations of our division of transportation, public works, and a tour of our traffic management center.

Last week, participants met with the sheriff's office to learn more about uh protecting life and liberty in our community, and they had an opportunity to hear about the many responsibilities that our sheriff's deputies have, and I'll also partook in a uh tour of our jail.

We still have a couple exciting sessions ahead, including presentations and tours with our health department and the clerk's office.

The program is going to wrap up in June with a graduation at our Lake County Forest Reserves.

I'll make sure that all board members get that information as it relates to the date and time.

Next month, I'll also be back to share the results of our essay in uh art contests.

We're looking forward to inviting the winners of those contests to celebrate their work alongside the county board members and the lake county staff.

So look forward to that.

Um lastly, I'll just want to make sure I uh take the opportunity because Jana and uh Betsy are here to thank them for all their work on this, uh, as we would not be celebrating the way that we are to the extent that we are without their help.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any comments on this item.

Uh I just want to say I was fortunate enough to be able to be there for the kickoff, and really it was um even just that very first meeting was really so nice to hear staff talk a little bit, give an overview of what they do and and the program.

And I'm so grateful for the people who are here today and who've been part of this program who are so interested in county government and want to have an understanding of how it works.

So um, so thank you so much for taking time out of your lives to um to get involved and and see how things work.

I always find it to be really interesting, so I hope you do as well.

And thanks so much for being here this morning.

So thank you.

Uh, next we have uh presentation of Lake County Green Business Program Awards, and board members will recall that we just announced this um last week.

So, excuse me, last month.

And so today we're proud to announce the first recipients of our Lake County Green Business Award program.

The first award is going to go to um well, okay.

We'll start with Mr.

Um, let me see.

The first award is going to go to Right at Home Lake County, and Mike Steiner is here to accept the award.

Uh, right at home Lake County provides senior home health care services to help people remain in their homes as they age.

Um the uh uh right at home Lake County is being recognized for their commitment to sustainability and their facilities and equipment in their employee receipt procedures and their future planning for sustainable operations.

Their team has installed solar energy sources and energy efficient appliances in their facilities.

They also utilize electric vehicles in their operations and they have an on-site charging area for them.

And right at home took the time to report on every sustainability category for their business to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable business practices.

So we thank you for your efforts and appreciate you joining us today.

So thank you so much.

This one is for you.

Thank you so much.

How do you hold that?

Okay, where do you want us?

Back here.

Okay.

We'll stand together.

Yeah, dare you.

Thank you.

Oh, we got two.

Okay, that's for the next one.

Yes, okay, thank you.

All right, one, two, three.

One, two, three.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Would you care to stay member?

Oh, sure.

Okay.

Thank you for the opportunity for uh this program and this award.

I think it's important that we do whatever we can to help with the environment and uh we continue forward with this effort.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

The second award uh goes to SGA Youth and Family Services, and here to accept the award is Elizabeth Montano and Jocelyn Telez.

SGA Youth and Family Services provides free comprehensive services through a service model that concentrates on parenting, early childhood education, education support, and workforce development.

And they are being celebrated today for their ongoing commitment to sustainable business practice.

Their team focuses on reducing energy usage during periods of high demand.

They take advantage of local recycling opportunities for program materials, they utilize local food sources for events, and they engage in employee education about pollution prevention.

And these are just a few of the actions that they are undertaking as part of their day-to-day operations while they're still implementing their vision.

So we thank you for your efforts, and I'm proud to give you an award.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Hi here.

Hi.

Thank you.

Oh, may I get that?

Okay, perfect.

Thank you.

So I don't perfect.

Thanks.

Okay.

One.

There we go.

And one, two, three.

And then get one more.

One, two, three.

Thank you.

Perfect.

Could you find that if you are saying?

Thank you.

Um, so I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone.

It was truly a team effort.

Um, they accompany me in the recycling, so thank you so much.

And thank you so much for starting this initiative.

We're really excited to be a part of it.

Thank you.

All right, thank you very much.

Um that concludes our special recognition.

That concludes our special recognition.

Do we have any public comment on items not on the agenda today?

Yes, thank you, Chair Hart.

We have three public comments.

To those making public comment, uh your uh your comments must be related to agenda items or otherwise germane to the business of the county board and must not be redundant.

Each person who makes public comment will have a maximum of three minutes to make their comments.

The three minute time limit is cumulative.

So if a person makes comment on more than one item, then they will have a total maximum of three minutes for all of their comments.

Up at the podium here, there is a three minute timer.

When you have 20 seconds left, the yellow light will come on, and when the red light comes on, your time has expired.

When appropriate matters raised by public comment, maybe refer to the appropriate standing committee.

Those making public comment shall refrain from commenting about private activities, lifestyles, or beliefs of others, including county employees and elected officials if those comments are unrelated to the business of the county board or county government.

Comments that are uncivil, rude, vulgar, profane, or otherwise disruptive, will not be allowed.

And then finally, any uh candidates running for public office who are making public comment should refrain from including comments that promote or support a candidate, including themselves, and should not identify themselves as a candidate for public office.

Uh our first public comment is from Benjamin Matthew.

Um my comment has to do more with um transportation, specifically um dealing with uh coordinating with local communities because they're repaving old McHenry Road in my area, which is a county road, and my municipality, Long Grove, um was not even aware of that project happening.

And um, my strong suggestion to LCD is in the future if they're gonna do anything, including just repaving, they should coordinate with the local community so that way they can let area residents know what's happening, so that way we can plan accordingly.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh next public comment is from Patrick Kubker.

Hi, my name's Pat Kipker from Gurney, Illinois.

My agenda is uh I live at Washington Street and Hunt Club Road, they're redoing the road, and my problem is I've been there 42 years and I farm a large, fairly large operation.

I can't, they're gonna put a medium across.

I won't be able to get across the road safely.

Um I'm gonna have a hard time.

I'm gonna they're gonna put me in the intersection every time I leave and come out instead of uh I can't come in from the west and cross the road, which was the safest way for me to get across the road.

Uh when they put the median up right now, even now at 6 or 30 in the morning, I can just pull out and make a left turn.

There's no traffic in the morning.

The only time it's bad is from seven o'clock with the schools.

Uh most of the day it's not a big deal.

Uh they say the intersections, the worst intersection in Lake County for traffic.

One comment that I had was if they changed the light for the left turn, if it was designated left turn on the red or on green only instead of where you can merge in, that would have cured a lot of the problem.

Uh the businesses that they put in uh the car wash is uh issue, but my safety thing is if I can't get across the road, it forces me to make longer trips around because I can't navigate uh just for instance.

I I got 50 loads of manure to haul in the last in the next two weeks.

Um my minor spiderway is 19,000 pounds empty.

Uh I'm 40 some feet long.

Uh the best thing for me to do is be on the road as short as I can safely.

I don't want to impede on any traffic.

Uh I have semis, I run a concrete conveyor all over Chicago.

Uh I need I need to be able to get across the road.

Uh the safety issue for me is getting in and out.

I've been there 43 years.

I it was a stop sign when I moved in there.

I I still need to get across the road.

Uh it's a safety issue for me.

Um that's my comment.

I'm hoping that you could help me to let me get across the road.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And our final public comment is from Susan Bazorgi.

And our final public comment is from Susan Bazorge.

Thank you.

Thank you for this opportunity.

I'm a member of this Independence Academy, and I really want to thank you for what you've done with this.

I've come through this thinking that we live in an area of abundance, diversity, thoughtfulness, and commitment.

So in learning all of this, I thought I would appeal to this group.

Our area is currently undergoing an investigation for a natural gas pipeline.

It's an individual concern.

But as I've talked over these months to people in the community, I realize there's a lot of concern on energy projects.

Then data centers come in.

I'd like to ask if you would consider a task force, a task force that would involve Lake County board members, would involve Lake County business members and citizens.

This task force would gather more information.

It's hard to get information on this, would help get it out to the community.

We've struggled to find resources that say, what does this mean?

What happens when a pipeline comes to our area?

Is it a problem?

Do we want to impede progress?

Not necessarily, but we just can't find information.

And I thought, well, what if we had something that everybody could contribute to?

There could be people assigned to get more information and distribute it.

So there wouldn't be so much divisiveness.

I think when these topics come up, it so divides communities.

We're a great community, and I'd like to see something that just helps bring us together more.

So thank you very much.

And thank you for this.

This has been amazing.

So thank you.

Thank you.

That concludes public comments.

Okay, thank you very much.

Moving on to chair's remarks.

Um, so as part of our appointment and reappointment process for special districts, I read through uh really the reports that are on their website and look at their financials, and that includes a report that the employees submit to their board.

And I want to thank the Greater Round Lake Fire Protection District for the excellent work they've done over this last month.

Um they had a call, a 911 call, they saved a woman who was in her car.

She went into cardiac arrest four times on their way to the hospital, and the officers uh were able to stabilize her, and she will make a full recovery.

And I want to point out Lake Calm is a fire first model, uh, which means that the default response to a 911 call is an ambulance and fire personnel who are trained in medical response.

And this is just an example of why that's so important.

Uh, in another instance, firefighter Kyle, I think it's Kunde was part of a crew that responded to a call for a child found wandering the streets in Round Lake Beach.

He was concerned, the officer was concerned about the condition of the child and decided to file a report with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

And unfortunately, the child was found to have multiple injuries that appear to have been the result of abuse.

And the child was moved to a safe location.

And the time of that report, the investigation was still in process.

And those two things are in addition to responding to 12 uh structure fires, not just in their area, but in the response that they do to other areas.

Um I just want to highlight them.

Uh, I had several meetings this month.

I want to highlight a few that were really exciting for Lake County.

Uh, yesterday, Gina Roberts and I attended a ribbon cutting for EduCare Lake County, which is a new early learning and child care facility that will be opening in Zion.

It is only the second educare uh facility in the entire state, and we are so pleased that they chose Zion as the perfect location.

It'll be located right between the park district and the school district.

It'll provide care and learning for 174 children and their families, and that care goes from the age of six weeks all the way up to right before kindergarten.

Uh, so it's gonna care for those children and their families, and also uh is aiming to recruit and train and and retain uh over 350 early childhood professionals every year, which should really help with child care and early learning across Lake County.

Um and this would not have been possible without major investments by our philanthropic partners, Schreiber Family Foundation, Gorder Family Foundation, Staynes Family Foundation, Hunter Family Foundation, and the leadership of the Lake County Community Foundation, which brought them together, and that's expected to open in mid 2027.

And I wanna give a special shout out to Mayor McKinney, who they had reached out to the mayor to say, hey, can you kind of show us around Lake County about where we can find a good spot to set up?

And he said, sure, and he got a bus.

And he said, but before we get started, I just wanna tell you, like right here is the best spot in all of Lake County.

And they went around and I think they looked at different sites, and it was several months, as I understand.

And then they called Mayor McKinney and said, you know what, actually, you were right the first time.

See, it was right here.

We didn't need to even take that bus ride.

So it was really a lovely event.

Um I also attended the Waukegan High School's annual Lake County Issues to Action showcase.

Some of the topics were immigration, public safety, road safety, native plantings, food security, early childhood, uh, education, child care.

And there were, I mean, surely there was at least a thousand people in that room and all of these uh young people who had done extensive research on the problem as well as on that solution.

So I was able to talk to many of them, and I just wanna do a special kudos to three young men who had identified a an intersection quite close to an elementary school in Waukegan, of which there was no traffic control measures, no yield signs, no stop signs.

Um Mayor Sam Cunningham was there as well.

And so uh they were able to present Mayor Cunningham with their findings, and they had done the research about what needs to go into uh putting in traffic control measures and the fact that it's near a school enabled them to sort of bypass or fast track, excuse me, fast track some of that work and and um it was awesome to see them like high-fiving each other, and they were just super proud and you know, they were nervous to talk to the mayor, but then um they were really they were really proud.

So I'm super it was just very exciting.

Um I attended a ribbon cutting for a stormwater improvement on Lewis Avenue in North Chicago, which is going to benefit about 742 homes and over 900 buildings.

And then that same day we went to another ribbon cutting in North Chicago at Forestall Village, which is a military um, it's in, it's in Great Lakes, North Chicago, but it houses military families.

And thanks to funding and collaboration with Congressman Schneider, Senator Stuckworth and Durban, and State Senator Adrian Johnson, who who passed an important bill, um, those children will have a spectacular new elementary school this fall.

Their current elementary school is very dark and has lead in the drinking water.

And so those kids have had to have bottled water for a very long time.

Um, so it was wonderful to be able to walk through that space with uh superintendent John Price and also just to meet all the kids and see their excitement about this new school.

So um, and then there were two awesome events that occurred over the last few weeks, and uh they're related.

The first was Lake County's Lake County Partners Big Event, which brings together leaders across many different sectors in support of economic development.

Over 500 people attended, along with many of our Lake County board members.

And part of that conversation at the big event uh this year as well as last year is around the importance of education in terms of attracting and retaining talent and business, which leads me to the next event I went to with members Peterson and Roberts, which was Dr.

Michael Carner's Educator of the Year dinner, which had almost a thousand people there.

Um kudos to is it is it Kyot?

What is it?

Kyot is the company that can serve almost a thousand people.

Um it was really tremendous.

It was the Lake County Fairgrounds, and it was just great to see and hear about all the wonderful work these teachers and support staff administrators are doing.

And uh I just found out this morning that we have an educator of the year uh awardee on our board, uh albeit it is for Carthage College.

Jennifer Clark is an educator of the year at her college, and so she's got to leave early.

So she needs to leave early to go and accept that award this morning.

And lastly, there's been a lot of conversation regarding VISTA Hospital, and in partnership with local, state, and federal partners.

I've been I've been meeting with these partners and working to ensure our residents have access to excellent health care right here in Northeastern Lake County.

I really want to thank Chris Hoff, who is our executive director of Lake County Health Department for uh for his leadership and uh reaching out and collaborating with different groups across Lake County and actually beyond, right, statewide.

Um, and so I I don't want to say this is part of the VISTA situation, but I will say that this Thursday, May 14th, from five to seven at the Lake County uh Community Health Center, which is at Grand Avenue, right?

So 310 grand.

There's a listening session that's hosted by the Illinois Department of Health Care and Family Services, Illinois Department of Public Health, and the Lake County Health Department.

And I encourage everybody to attend, it will be in English and Spanish, and uh for you to advocate for what you and your neighbors need in terms of health care.

And I look forward to uh to seeing people there.

So thank you very much for that.

Concludes uh my chair's remarks.

We have no unfinished business.

New business is uh consent agenda items six through 47.

May I have a motion, please?

Motion by Member Velitzic, second by Member Kenisnik.

Thank you, Member Hunter.

Hi, Chair.

Um, I'd like to recuse myself from items 20 through, and including item 23, just uh because of my primary employment.

Thank you.

So that's items 20, 21, 22, and 23.

Member Hunter will be having recusal.

Uh member Schlick talked to me before the meeting, and he will be uh abstaining, I guess, for item 23, as it is for the Walconda Fire Protection District, and he is employed by Wilkanda Fire Protection District.

So I have a motion and a second.

Uh may I have a roll call, please member Altenburg.

Aye.

Member Campbell.

Member Kasman.

Hi.

Member Clark.

Aye.

Member Dan Ford.

Hi.

Member Frank.

Aye.

Member Cart.

Aye.

Member Hewitt.

Aye.

Member Hewitt, you might be muted.

Oh, there you go.

Well, I can see you.

Give me a thumbs up, would you?

Thumbs up aye.

Thank you so much.

Member Hunter.

Hi.

Thank you, sir.

Member Knishner.

Aye.

Member Kyle.

Member Maine.

Aye.

Member Parak.

Aye.

Member Peterson.

Aye.

Roberts.

Aye.

Member Schlick.

Member Balitzick.

Aye.

And Member Watson.

All right.

18 I with the recusal and abstentions is noted.

Great.

Thank you very much.

Motion passes.

Moving on to regular agenda.

Item 48 is an ordinance amending chapter 110, licensing of amusements as it relates to raffles and amusement devices.

Really want to thank Ruth Ann for painstakingly going through the uh liquor or these chapters in this ordinance.

So I just want to draw people's attention to the bullet point items here.

So we had a requirement that if somebody wanted to have a raffle, they needed to have five years.

It says five years of experience, but like five years being formed, if you will, right?

An organization.

And I just don't understand why that would be necessary.

So we removed that.

We increased the fee from five dollars to $25 to make up for the time for the processing.

We have an allowance for the submittal of application electronically and without notarization.

And can I say that is a huge change?

For many years, we were requiring uh notaries, and that is not required by the state.

And so you can imagine that was an obstacle or at least a uh a bit of an inconvenience for people to have to get a notary for these things.

So it was nice to be able to get rid of that one.

And then the change in the verbiage from any coin in the slot operated amusement device.

I mean, I don't know if anybody even carries coins anymore, um, to an amusement device operated through any means of payment because so often you can just swipe or whatever.

So that's those are the changes there.

May I have a motion, please?

Motion by Member Kenisnik, second by member Clark.

Any discussion on this item?

Seeing none, all those in favor?

Any opposed?

Motion passes and uh ordinance.

Next item 49 is an ordinance amending chapter 11 alcohol regulation to the Lake County Code of Ordinances.

Um, so for this one, I think again it's the removal of the notary requirement.

Um identifying that you plan on having amusement devices, uh, that there's a temporary use permit for Class D licenses.

Some of you may recall we had a concern with Warren Township that the way our ordinance was written made it very difficult for them to quickly make changes.

Um then uh the biggest one was really um that I wanted to point out when somebody renews, we had on there that they had to provide documentation to show that either 60% of the annual gross revenue is generated from food and beverage sales, and that no more or that no more that 10% of the space is dedicated to video gaming.

Um we are not allowed to make that uh restriction, and so it's important for us to remove it uh to be very clear.

Um, after we had tried to limit the number of video game licenses, and thank you to member Peterson for your partnership on that.

Uh uh the state moved to uh take away any oversight of video gaming from the county.

So if somebody gets a uh a liquor license, they automatically go to the state, and we don't have any say as to whether or not they should have uh video gaming.

So those are the changes on that one.

Any questions on this?

Um I don't think I had a motion or a second, did I?

I have a motion by member Frank, second by member Peterson.

Any discussion?

Seeing none, all those in favor?

Any opposed?

Motion passes, and I want to say thank you to members Hunter and Roberts for serving on the liquor commission.

Uh moving on to Health and Community Services Committee.

We have a board of health report to be read by member Park.

Thank you, Chair.

Lake County's second annual operation drop box is underway at locations across Lake County.

Volunteers from the Lake County Medical Reserve Corps collect donations during the month of May, which also happens to be Military Appreciation Month, that are then distributed in partnership with veterans Path to Hope.

The donations collected will be used on June 10th in a functional exercise.

The exercise measures our ability to sort inventory and redistribute medical countermeasures when needed during a response.

Each phase of the exercise is timed and checked for accuracy.

The simulation helps our team identify gaps in the process for real-world events.

Last year, Lake and McHenry counties together saw a record level of community support with 132 organizations participating at drop sites and 11,427 pounds of donations collected for local veterans.

Visit the operation drop box page on the LCHD website to see a map of over 60 locations accepting donations in Lake County and to learn more.

Please share this information with your friends, family, and partners, and to help support our veterans.

May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month.

The health department urges residents to take precautions against ticks, which carry several diseases, including Lyme disease.

Ticks live in and near live in and near wooded areas, tall grass and brush.

If infected, ticks can transmit diseases, including Lyme disease.

Ticks are most active during warmer months.

This year, at the national level, tick-related emergency department visits rates will nearly double the typical rate for this time of year.

In Lake County emergency department visits in the month of April and May are already exceeding the historical average.

Residents can learn more information, tips, and video and videos at fight the bite now.com.

May is also mental health awareness month.

While one in one in five people experience a mental health illness during their lifetime, everyone faces challenges in life that can impact their mental health.

During the month of May, LCHD will answer thousands of calls from residents, send mobile crisis response units to help individuals and their families, and provide hundreds of hours of recruitment services to those dealing with mental health and substance use of substance use issues.

In 2025, the crisis care program answered 17,751 crisis calls from Lake County residents.

This was a 32% increase from 2024 crisis calls and answered that year, which was 13,424.

Additionally, there were 1,86 mobile crisis response responses for youth and adults in 2025.

There are simple things that every person can say or do to help the people in their life who are struggling to get through tough times.

If you notice that your friend or loved one continues to struggle after weeks or months, they may be showing signs of a mental health condition and likely need professional help.

Encourage them to seek help from a mental health professional and offer to help them find a provider if needed.

If someone you care about is in immediate danger of taking a suicidal action, seek help by calling 911 or going to the closest emergency room.

The health department offers mental health support through its crisis care hotline available 24-7 at 847-377-8088.

Services are free and confidential.

That concludes my report.

Great.

Thank you very much.

Moving on to item 51, please.

Item 51 is a joint resolution accepting the capacity expansion grant from the Illinois Department of Human Services and authorizing an emergency appropriation in the amount of $96,200 for grant administration to increase the capacity of the local homeless crisis response systems.

And I so move.

Thank you.

Motion by Member Park.

Second by Member Kyle.

Any discussion on this item?

Thank you, Member Park.

We just had a really nice discussion of this at the HCS, and I know that we're excited to be able to provide more real-time data on to organizations and to individuals, and part of this will help us get to that uh opportunity.

So very excited that we have this.

Thank you.

Great, thank you.

Uh, this does require a roll call vote.

Let me just make sure I'm checking with the parliamentarian.

Can I have a leave of the previous roll call, even though there were some extensions?

You want me to start over?

Um we can't need the abstentions.

Okay, thank you.

May have a new roll call, please.

Member Eltonberg.

Member Campos.

Member.

Aye.

Member Clark.

Aye.

Member.

Member Dan for Member Frank.

Aye.

Member Art.

Aye.

Member Ew.

Aye.

Aye.

Member Runner.

Aye.

Member Schmidt.

Aye.

Member Maine.

Aye.

Member.

Aye.

Member B.

Aye.

Member Robins.

Aye.

Member Schliff.

Aye.

Aye.

Member Wallace.

All right.

Thank you.

Motion passes.

Moving on to item 52, Law and Judicial Committee.

Vice Chair Roberts, please.

Item 52 is a joint resolution authorizing the acceptance and execution of an Illinois criminal justice information authority.

Deferred prosecution grant assisting the Lake County State's Attorney's Office with enhancing the deferred prosecution program and approving an emergency appropriation of $72,738 in grant funds.

And ISO move.

Thank you.

Motion by Member Roberts, second by Member Kenisnik.

Any discussion on this item?

I would just say we had great conversation in committee about deferred uh prosecution, how it can really help um speed up cases because if you can uh move people out of um being in front of a judge and get them into say it's behavioral health services or other kind of um treatment programs.

Um you're doing that sooner rather than them having time in jail or waiting for um uh for a case decision, it should speed things up and um hopefully and I think we also heard that recidivism was reduced as a result of deferred prosecution.

So thank you very much.

I do have a uh motion and a second.

This does require a roll call vote.

Do I have a leave for the previous roll call?

Yes.

Thank you.

Item 53, please.

Thank you.

Item 53 is a joint resolution increasing the head count for the 19th Judicial Circuit Court and authorizing four new juvenile detention officer positions for the Halls Detention Center at an estimated cost of approximately 44,692 dollars for the remainder of the fiscal year 2026.

And ISO move.

Thank you.

Motion by Member Roberts, second by member Wasick.

Uh, any discussion on this item.

All right, I would say this is also good conversation to have.

Uh Lake County, you'll see on the first bullet.

Um, due to closure and reduced capacity of other detention facilities across the state, the Lake County Juvenile Devention Detention Center was already um, you know, having to have some some people there and and having more uh clients, if you will, and so this is allowing us to better staff our juvenile detention.

So thank you on that one.

Um seeing nothing further, all those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion passes.

Thank you.

Uh moving on to public works and transportation committee chair Clark for item 54, please.

Thank you, Chair.

Item 54 is a joint resolution authorizing an agreement with Alfred Bench and Company, Chicago, Illinois, to provide phase one professional engineering services for improvements along Bonner Road from Darrell Road to Fairfield Road at a maximum cost of 3,267,871 dollars and appropriating $3,922,000 of the county option motor fuel tax funds.

I just want to highlight that this really important project is being paid for, funded through our county option motor fuel tax, which has really allowed us to move forward on um on our roads and other improvements.

Um, this also includes planning for a real uh for a potential um non-motorized connector that's right near the Lakewood Forest Preserve.

So um an ISO move.

Great, thank you.

Motion by member Clark, second by member Schlick.

Any discussion on this item, Member Schlick.

Thank you, Chair.

And I just want to echo uh Chair Clark's sentiments there.

The the most exciting part about this project is a very heavily traveled road with a non-motorized path.

I get a lot of questions sometimes where we put paths.

This one is desperately needed.

There's a lot of subdivisions that are around that area.

There's two schools on the stretch of road, and it could give them a safer access to the Millennium Trail, which is at the very tail end of this road.

So it it I hope engineering comes through and we can get this non-motorized path as part of the project because I think it'll be a great asset to the community.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Um seeing nothing further, this item does require a roll call vote.

May I have a leave for the previous roll call?

Yes.

Thank you.

Motion passes.

Item 55, please.

Item 55 is a joint resolution authorizing execution of a contract with Boulder Contractors Inc.

of Carey, Illinois, in the amount of 7,936,226 for the Saunders Road Bliff Station and Gravity Sewer Replacement Project.

I want to thank Director Austin McFarland and his team for this really strategic long-run planning.

This will give us future capacity for years to come for the sewer.

And I so move.

Thank you.

Motion by Member Clark, second by member Hunter.

Any discussion on this item?

All right.

Seeing none, all those in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion passes.

Thank you.

Moving on to planning, building, zoning, and environment committee, Chair Altenberg for item 56, please.

Thank you, Chair.

Item 56.

Ordinance adapting the Manitou Creek Fish Lake Drain Watershed Based Plan prepared by the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission as an amendment to the Lake County Comprehensive Stormwater Management Plan.

An ISO move.

Thank you.

Motion by Member Altenburg, second by Member Wasick.

Any discussion on this item?

Member Wasick.

Yes, I'm gonna give a big shout out to our staff at SMC.

They put a lot of time into this.

Their level of public engagement was really really extraordinary.

Um a lot of the meetings that they held in the Round Lake Library were very well attended.

They got a lot of input, a lot of you know ideas on on how this plan should move forward.

And I just I just think they did a stellar job, and it's a really a model for how we can engage on some of these topics in the future.

So thanks again to the great staff at SMC.

Great, thank you.

Anything further?

All right, seeing no other comments, all those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion passes.

Moving on to um actually our Lake County Partners update to be read by Member Hunter.

Thanks, Chair.

First half of 2026 has seen strong business growth.

Lake County Partners has ushered in a number of project wins in recent months, primarily in advanced manufacturing and mixed-use housing, including a 75 million dollar expansion by Bath Concepts that retains 375 jobs and will create 125 more, alongside two large-scale residential and retail developments totaling over 280 million that address critical housing needs.

With a robust pipeline of 32 active projects, Lake County Partners is sustaining momentum while leveraging state incentives and national recruitment events to stoke future wins.

Recent events designed to engage business leaders, direct uh build direct relationships and drive investment, collaboration, and job growth have included a German delegation in April, a select Chicago slash select USA Foreign Direct Investment Conference in Washington, DC in May, and a biointernational convention in San Diego, which will take place in June.

These events are done in partnership with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Illinois EDC, World Business Chicago, and the Greater Chicago Economic Partnership.

Lake County Partner hosts multifamily speed networking.

Lake County Partners recently organized a speed networking session designed to connect municipal staff with developers looking for their next multi-family uh residential projects.

Eleven municipalities and 11 real estate developers attended, and each spent five minutes during the meeting in an around robin fashion.

Municipal staff shared information about the sites that they had liked to see developed, giving builders a unique chance to consider future opportunities.

Feedback was very positive, and Lake County Partners will continue to build on that momentum as it looks to fuel housing growth.

Lake County Partners Big Event draws record-breaking crowd.

As the chair mentioned earlier, Lake County Partners Big Event drew 550 local leaders for a program focused on Lake County's economic growth and momentum.

Awards uh recognized manufacturer Flex, which received the community investment award for its job creating expansion, and the College of Lake County honored with the talent advancement award for building critical workforce pipelines.

And that's my report.

Thank you very much.

It was uh it was really a great event.

Uh moving on, uh, we have for item 58 Financial and Administrative Committee Chair Frank.

Thank you, Chair.

Item 58 is a resolution approving the internal government intergovernmental agreement to install a public Wi-Fi project and provide service through December 2026 by and between Lake County and the City of North Chicago.

And I moved to approved.

Thank you.

Motion by Member Frank, second by member Clark.

Any discussion on this item.

Member Clark.

Yeah, I'm really excited to I'm really excited to see this here today.

I want to thank Debbie Kennedy administrating Matt Myers and um Betsy Brandon and Kay Crandall and our whole broadband and digital outreach team.

This will help provide this really goes back to what this board wanted to do was help provide provide access to affordable internet to our residents.

And so this was um you know planned for many years, and I want to thank the city of North Chicago for working with us.

And if you look at it, this will give you know save high speed, um true high-speed internet access to the public in this in this downtown um North Chicago area.

Um so it's truly helping people have access.

We know how important it is for people in their daily lives for work, for health care, just for communicating with people to have this access.

So it is exciting to see.

I remember the first day we saw all sat down in their committee years ago and thought what do we want to provide and um and use our upper money for, and this is one of those things.

So it's a great day today.

So I'm really happy to see it.

Thank you.

Member Hunter, Fab Member Frank.

Thanks, Chair.

I'd just like to congratulate Mayor Rockingham in North Chicago.

He's got that place rocking.

He is really working.

Yep, he really does.

Thank you.

Member Frank.

Yeah.

Thank you, Chair.

Uh, great work, uh, Member Clark and to your committee.

Uh, Chair, I just want to point out, I think Member Kyle was interested in maybe making the motion if that could be possible if I could rescind my motion on this one.

Uh I'll just have to ask our clerk, is that okay for him to rescind his motion?

And then the motion would be made by member uh Angelo Kyle and then seconded by member Clark.

Sure.

Okay, done.

Thank you.

Thanks so much.

Um, and I guess I I just want to tag on and thank you so much, Member Hunter, for saying about that about the city of North Chicago.

It is tremendous the work that is happening there.

And um I I drive past the Sheridan Crossing on a very regular basis, and that's going to be a terrific um development site.

Thanks to Abvi, they have a gorgeous new middle school.

Um, now they have a new elementary school over there in Forestal Village.

There's incredible investment by our philanthropic partners for helping children to read early and some child care opportunities.

And um, you know, I also want to thank Member Kyle for your years of advocacy, member Kyle, for the city of North Chicago and your care and love for it.

So um, so thank you, and thank you, Member Hunter, for bringing that up.

Um, anything further on this item?

All right, seeing none, all those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion passes.

Thank you.

Item 59, please.

Thank you, Chair.

Item 59 is a resolution authorizing amendments to the county elected official compensation policy.

And if I may, with your consent, Chair, just take a minute.

I just wanted to explain this item and the next item uh briefly for members' awareness.

I wanted to give some background on the discussion.

We had a committee.

So we don't we're not required to make changes to this policy every year, but we we are proposing changes to the policy based on the discussion we had a committee.

However, in item 60 is the resolution that sets the compensation for elected officials, which we are required by state statute to pass before every term.

So we have this type of a resolution before us every two years.

Four years ago, we had a initiated a conversation about adjusting compensation for elected officials.

We we didn't agree on any changes, and as we had for many many years before, there were no changes made in 2022.

In 2024, we adopted a policy that gave us some guidance, which we were agreeing upon, would essentially establish that elected officials' compensation would increase by at the very least the average uh minimum increase that the umployees for the county had at the beginning of each term.

Um, but we also established the fact that uh elected officials in the same position serving together should should be compensated exactly the same amount for the same work, and so we have a staggered schedule in effect for these three percent increases uh at the beginning of each term.

And so that's what we enacted two years ago, and so that's what you'll see on the salary uh resolution item in item 60.

The discussion we had a committee, and I really want to thank uh member Clark and uh member Parak for the contributions to the conversation was essentially saying hey, we we're not we don't have any staggering of that increase for the countywide officials that we're establishing a salary for.

We were pro you know looking at giving a three percent increase, but it would be static for four years.

And so, what this new policy change before us in item 59 says is that for the countywide officials, we're now going to institute a mid-term increase of an additional two to three percent, whatever it is at at that time, so that they'll get an increase for the beginning of this term, and then two years following an additional three percent increase.

That's what uh this proposed change to the policy says, and that's what the attached um schedule in item 60 says.

And I move to approve item 59.

Thank you.

Motion by member Frank?

Second by member Clark.

Any discussion on this item?

Thank you, Member Volitzik.

Thank you, Chair.

Um, and I do appreciate the conversation that we had during FA, it was a robust one.

I'm gonna be a no on on this and then the next item as I was in committee for a few reasons.

Of course, it's nothing personal as it shouldn't be, but we already um had set a recurring raise for the countywise positions.

That's that's the first reason um two years ago, and um already those positions earn uh well above the average Lake County um individual income.

And I don't see a rationale for um in terms of parity.

If if we were following some sort of rationale for the elected officials, then county board members would make half of the countywides if it's a full-time versus halftime position, and and we make maybe around a third of some.

So there's just not a rationale in my mind for this, so I'm gonna pose.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And just as a point of order, I might just ask if um if there's any interest in taking the two items together, maybe that I don't know.

I'll ask you that question, Chair Frank.

Take them separate.

They're clearly related.

However, I would just say if item 59 is not approved by the board, we would have to make changes to item 60.

Perfect.

Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you.

Member Maine.

Uh thank you.

Uh I have a comment and I have a question.

I want to start with a question first to um member Frank, Chair Frank.

It says the red line policy 5.1 says for the addition is for four-year terms of non-board member elected officials, the compensation shall also be increased by that same percentage again at the beginning of the third year of the term.

You said three percent, but I I thought the discussion, and maybe I'm mixing up two different ideas, that the increase was going to be whatever was happening at that time with the other positions.

Do you understand my question?

I do.

May I chair?

Yes, please, thank you.

So the three percent is an example because that's what it is for this resolution, right?

But it's not the three percent is not in the policy and it's not static, yeah, but that's what it was two years ago for county employees, so that's the percentage we're using based on our policy.

Yeah, so I did I just wanted to make that clear because if someone hadn't read it, they might have thought it was um uh three percent.

That language is a little awkward anyway, but it doesn't matter for me because I'm with um member Volitzek.

Uh she spoke well to that.

I I just want to add maybe this is what you meant, but it's actually above the um household income, not the individual income.

The median income for per household in Lake County is 110,000.

Um, I think the individual is about 53,000.

Thank you.

Member Parak, followed by Member Clark.

Yeah, so I just have a and people know I feel pretty passionately about this.

Um I just want to take a few of the roles as an example.

The county clerk is the 196th most paid highest position in the county, 196 out of 2500 employees.

Do we all believe that it's the 196th most important job in our government?

I I don't believe that.

And if we continue to do this policy, we're gonna continue to lower, we are lowering the salary of these roles.

Let's be clear, we are lowering the salaries.

All we're doing with this amendment is slowing the lowering of these roles.

Now, I've also heard arguments that say, hey, these people are these races are competitive and people are running for it and they know the salary.

I do not believe these races are competitive anymore.

What would competitive look like?

Two to three people per party running for these roles.

That has not been the case for a long time.

I don't know when that was the last time that these races were competitive.

People know the salary, yes, people clearly know the salary of these roles.

And if we lower them, people will continue to run for these roles, but will they be the people that we want in these roles?

These are some of the most important jobs we have in the entire county.

And if we continue to lower the salary, which we are doing whether we pass this amendment or not, we're signaling that these jobs are not important.

That these jobs, as we can continue to lower the price, will attract a different type of pool of people, right?

People who say, well, they're lowering the price.

How important are these jobs?

I get, I bet if we lowered the price of every position in the county by 10 to 20%, we'd still attract people into these roles.

They just wouldn't be the applicants that we want in these roles.

We want people that are highly experienced.

I love having ambitious grads join the county government.

I just don't want them as treasurer.

Let them have the experience that we want in these roles.

So while I appreciate Member Main and Member of Litzick's points about them being above the median, they are far below.

They don't even rank in the top 150 positions in this county.

And so are we looking for a median below person to occupy this role?

That's what we are signaling.

And at some point, these will become ceremonial if we don't actually pay them the amount that should be paid in these roles.

So I'm asking my colleagues to slow the bleed.

That is all we are doing is slowing the bleed of these roles.

We are clearly signaled that they are less important, that we're paying, we are continuing to lower the pay of these, but I would just ask that we continue to look at what we think these positions are valued for our community.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Member Clark.

Thank you.

Well, yeah, we did have a very robust discussion about this at finance.

And you know, as an economics professor, you know, we know that inflation and cost, that's a real that's a real thing.

And so by not having these people's pay go up by at least inflation for year after year after year after year after year.

It hurts, it hurts people, people can't pay their bills.

It limits who can run for these roles.

I talked talk to many people who are like, I would like to serve in government.

But what you're paying is not enough for me to be able to literally do it and be able to feed my family or pay my rent.

We all know rent and housing costs are so high in Lake County, yet we don't want to pay.

And let's be clear, we're literally talking right now about the treasurer of Lake County who runs the entire property taxes.

Um how much 700 million dollars and more with the property taxes, and the clerk who is in charge of all the vital records.

We don't have now a clerk of vital records anymore, so that's double the work in charge of all the voting, all the land, uh, everyone's land uh deeds, um, all of our vital records, our birth certificates, and we're saying that, as member Park said, that it's you know, you know, they should serve for public service.

They shouldn't even have uh incomes that keep up with inflation.

And it really bothers me, and I have to say, as a teacher also, I hear a lot that teachers and people serve because they want to serve because they get psychic pay, or they serve because they want to serve their community.

All of us are here because we want to serve our communities.

We all work so hard, and um, but it it really bothers me that it's like, well, since we serve our communities, we shouldn't, we don't deserve to be paid a living wage.

So people who are in charge of you know, billionaire people, they are they aren't for our community, they deserve all the money they should get.

But to we I believe we should compensate people fairly and for the work we do.

And otherwise, we do limit, and let's be blunt.

I mean, the people who can run for these positions be independently wealthy, maybe they're retired, but people who want to serve their communities and really want to do this such important work for our residents are limited by the reality that most of us have to work to pay our bills.

I work two jobs, and I wish I didn't have to work two jobs.

I really do, but neither one pays enough for me to pay my bills here in Lake County.

And so I would ask that today this policy is just a change to have two people, the treasurer of the entire county and the clerk get at least in four years, two times a salary adjustment for inflation.

Not even every year.

I would rather we did it every year, but I would ask for two times, and I also would ask this board in the future to let's look at what the scope of the work that these jobs are, and let's look at maybe what they should be paid.

Because is Member Park said the fact that if just Lake County government, their number 169th in pay, I mean, I think it shows that we really should honor these jobs with how important they are with giving a good salary.

So you can tell I also feel very passionate about this, and so I hope the members do support this change.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anything further?

Thank you.

Member Kinesnik.

Thank you.

I feel like there are strong arguments on both sides of this discussion, and I really appreciate everybody sharing their thoughts.

Um, I struggled a bit trying to decide which side I would come down on with this, but in the end, I went back to what motivated me to run for local office in the first place.

I spent the first half of my life living in a community where uh government was being starved, to be perfectly honest.

People really believed that the most important thing was to keep local taxes as low as possible.

And what I observed as I grew older and became more sort of aware of how the world works, is that in this community that I grew up in, which is in a different state, nowhere, not even anywhere near Lake County.

But there's so little that the residents of that community have or that county compared to what we have here in Lake County.

And it took me a long time to sort of see the big picture, which is if you want to live in a beautiful place, you have to, if you want quality out of your way of life, you have to put quality into your way of life.

So, you know, it was a difficult decision, but I am going to vote in favor of this because I just personally find member Park and Member Clark's arguments really compelling because of my own life experience.

And I want Lake County to continue to be an outstanding place to live and work.

But I also want to support the future effectiveness of our ability to create the best county in the state.

So I think we need the right people to do that.

So I'll be voting in favor.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anything further?

So if you've served on this board with me for a while, you know I have historically voted against these increases.

I've talked about uh recruitment, that when we in our board meetings are looking at when we need to increase compensation, it is to make sure we're continuing to attract good talent.

You know, I after hanging up at finance last week, I was like, well, it is interesting, there's not a lot of people running in this cycle right now, and maybe that is due to salary, maybe it's due to our two-party system, maybe it's due to the fact that there's a lot of incumbents on our board, right?

Some people and the places where people are running is for is in those districts where people have chosen to retire.

I'm gonna take umbrage that uh that somehow if we vote against a salary increase here, that that means I don't value those positions.

So I'm gonna turn to Clerk Vega and say I value you and the work that you do, uh as I do for the other countywide electeds.

Um so I I would go back to, you know, when we run for these offices, and I think Member Maynard said this at finance, we know what the salary is.

There is a three percent increase on these positions.

Um, if we're talking about recruiting people, I might suggest that our board makes these changes in uh for you know, because we've got to do it every two years in early to mid-2027 before people are even collecting the petitions, right?

So right now we've already had a primary.

So the people are already running.

So I don't see how that helps us recruit more people.

They've been recruited.

So you know, I I I would just say if we want to increase the salaries of these positions, and and I might also just say, you know, we we haven't found as we sometimes do, uh, or in uh in sort of our employees, people saying, hey, I can't work here for this for these salaries, and hey, I can't recruit good employees for this salary.

Um, and that is different here, right?

I haven't had a countywide come to our meetings and say, you know, we really need you to increase our salary, right?

They made up their mind already when they decided to run.

So um I think that's kind of my sort of what I wanted to say, and I guess I would just also say I believe in public service.

I have dedicated my professional life to public service.

I left the private sector where I made more money so that I could do a job that matters to me.

Um, and it and by the way, it provides a great deal more flexibility, and there's something to that too.

We've had conversations about that around remote work and things like that.

So, anyway, I want to be clear that my no vote is by no means uh sort of a representation of my feelings about the countywides.

I value them and am grateful for the hard work that they do on behalf of the residents of Lake County as well as the employees of Lake County government.

Thank you.

Member Park.

Yeah, so I mean I I appreciate people's comments on these roles, but I just have to remind everyone here whether you vote for this or not, you're lowering their salary.

Let's be clear.

No one is getting an increase.

We are lowering the countywide salary.

Vote for it today, you're lowering their salary.

You don't vote for it, you're lowering their salary.

We are talking about how much we are lowering.

These people are the night 196, seventh, and eighth most paid people in our county.

You're going to lower that to being below 200, 220.

The question is just how far do you want to devalue these positions?

That is the question that we're asking ourselves today.

Here's my other question.

What is the harm in raising three people's salary every other year by three percent?

It matters to the people we hire.

It is a minuscule of a minuscule of a minuscule percent of our budget.

So let's be clear.

It's not about the dollars, it's about the symbolic value that we hold for these people and the role they do in the families they support and the critical jobs they do for us.

That's what we're talking about.

How devalue do you want to go with these people's roles and jobs?

I am asking here to devalue it every other year versus once every four years.

That is the point.

We're all voting to lower their salaries, just how much lower are we planning to go?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um just gonna say one more thing.

I think it's really easy for us to say this is not a lot of money.

When you look at the size of our budget, do you even know, Patrice?

What is our budget?

Six, seven hundred million dollars, right?

Yes, absolutely.

In the scheme of things, this is such a small amount of money.

We could say that about every single thing we vote on, but we agonize over it, right?

Because it's important.

It's not just right about, well, this is only going to be an increase of you know, six thousand dollars.

What are we talking about here?

So, right now, um, some of our countywides make 138,000, it would go up to 142,000.

Right, that is sure, minuscule of a minuscule percent.

But um, again, we could use that argument for everything.

My only thing is if we want to increase these salaries in a way that will attract more people, which I would argue coming from HR, that is why you increase salaries, right?

Is to make sure you're a train at retaining and attracting people, then your time to do it is before petitions are due, right?

Let people know, hey, we want to increase county board salaries to X and all of these other ones, so that then people can make a decision.

But the field has been set, right?

It's already been set.

The primary is already done.

So, and people have made their decision, knowing that it's a four-year term at X dollar figure.

So I would just encourage us to think about this and plan for it in early 2027.

Thank you, member Frank.

Yeah, thank you, Chair.

Appreciate the conversation.

I just want to comment on your point about timing, which is we adopt these resolutions establishing salaries for countywide officials in accordance with state law.

That timing is dictated to us, it's not a timing of our choosing, and it has to be before the term, before June 1st of the term of term beginning.

And so uh your point, I I definitely understand it, but I I'm thinking about the changes here that we're making to the policy as an investment in the future, because this is our policy that we enacted two years ago when we're making a small, very small modification to that policy going forward.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

And excuse me, member Maine.

Thank you.

Um, yeah, process-wise, it's a it's a drop-dead date.

It doesn't say when you can start it.

There, there's nothing that precludes us from starting, and that has been brought up in the past.

I know I have brought that up in the past.

Um, and I don't know, this is like my 12th time going through this, and it's not about this particular group.

It's just a little bit the nature of the beast.

We put it aside and we're working on budget and we're working, you know, all sorts of other things come up, and then all of a sudden, and again, no disrespect for this current board.

I've seen it happen for 24 years.

This happens, everyone's like, whoa, like, you know, it's like a holiday.

You're like, what?

It came again.

So there is nothing, we all know when it comes.

There's nothing that precludes this process from getting started in July for that following time.

Or if you wanted to wait till next January when a new board is seated.

We're looking forward.

Um, there are good points.

I'm not there are other points that people made for once.

I'm not going to go tit for tat on that because it's not going to change any people's minds.

But we we have talked about this uh at least twice before of not waiting and doing this in May and June.

And um again, no criticism of anyone here, but there needs to be um uh a decision, and I guess the problem is with that is that one board makes this decision, one set of chairs, one county board, and so those ideas sometimes get lost when you've got that new board seated.

That's not the first thing on their mind because they're trying to get a handle rightly so on their new committees, on their new chairs and stuff like that.

So maybe that's something that somebody who knows they're gonna be here next January, you know, puts a little thing in their calendar that says, hey, let's have FA talk about this at this time.

And there's many people that fulfill the criteria.

So as the teacher, that is your assignment.

Please get that done.

All right, thank you.

Uh seeing nothing further, may I have a roll call, please, Clerk Vega?

Member Altenburg.

Aye.

Member Campos.

Aye.

Member Kasbin.

Aye.

Member Clark.

Aye.

Member Danforth.

Aye.

I'm sorry, was that I?

Aye.

Member Franklin?

Aye.

Member Hart.

No.

Member Hewitt.

Aye.

Member Hunter?

Aye.

Member Conishnik.

Aye.

Member Kyle.

Aye.

Member Maine?

No.

Member Parak.

Aye.

Member Peterson?

No.

Member Roberts?

Aye.

Member Schlick?

No.

Member Melitzick?

No.

Member Wasick?

All right.

135.

Thank you.

Motion passes.

Moving on to item 60, please.

Thank you, Chair.

Item 60 is resolutions heading to compensation.

First.

County board members and the county board chair.

The item includes the changes reflected in the updated policy that we just approved on item 59 because it was discussed and recommended at committee.

And I move to approve.

Thank you.

Motion by Member Frank.

Second by Member Clark.

Any discussion on this item?

I'm just going to ask this.

May I have a leave for the previous roll call, which is the one that we just did.

Yes.

Yes.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right.

Motion still passes.

If there's a question about that.

Wait, wait, I think.

I can do a new roll call.

Yep.

So if you're if your vote has changed the same for 59.

Okay, thank you.

Motion passes.

Moving on to new appointments.

Item 61 is a resolution providing for the appointment of Brett Soloway as a trustee of the Deerfield Bannockburn Fire Protection District Board.

I had a really nice conversation with Brett.

I think he'll be an excellent addition to that board.

May I have a motion, please?

Motion by Member Park, second.

Thank you by Member Frank.

Any discussion?

Thank you, Member Hunter.

I need to uh abstain from this vote due to my primary employment.

Thank you.

Um so with that abstention, uh excluding, oh, pardon me, Member Park.

Yeah, I thought personally, but he has an incredibly impressive resume.

And he's a fellow Michigan grad.

So you had to throw that out there.

I know it's killing you to abstain from that vote, Member Hunter.

It is.

Yeah, nice.

Okay, so with uh member Hunter's abstention, all those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion passes.

Thank you so much.

Uh, we have no petitions correspondence or miscellaneous business.

Do we have any member remarks and requests, please?

Thank you, Member Hunter.

And Gina, I won't put words in your mouth, but I think you'll agree with this.

Um, the chief of police of Zion, Eric Bardin, was recently named president of the Illinois Association of Police Chiefs.

That's a heck of an honor.

Oh, that's awesome.

Thank you for letting us know.

Thank you.

Anyone else today?

All right, thank you.

Seeing nothing further, I so adjourned this regular September 2025 session with the county board of Lake County.

Our next meeting is on June 9th, 2026.