Dist. 7 hopeful shares ideas on issues facing Kane County Board

Two Democrats are vying in the Feb. 2 primary for Kane County Board District 7. Incumbent Gerald Jones, 65, of Aurora, a retiree who worked as a network administrator at Fermilab, is challenged by Lorena Cundari. Here are their thoughts on issues selected from a Daily Herald questionnaire sent to each candidate. Cundari did not respond to the questionnaire.

Q. Does the current committee system serve the county well? Is it an efficient way to conduct business? Should members be paid for their committee attendance? Please explain your answers.Gerald Jones. Given the volume of work and issues that the board has to address, the committee system is the best and likely only way to distribute the load. Pay does encourage attendance and rewards those who take their responsibility to the tax payer seriously.Should county board members get health insurance? Why or why not?Jones. Yes. For those who need it, insurance is reasonable compensation for the work we do.How would you equalize pay and benefits across all county departments so that unionized and non-unionized workers are treated the same?Jones. This is not an easy task. An independent salary review should be done semiannually to determine how the general market values each job skill. Salaries should be adjusted to reflect the market and government scales. Union wages should be part of this review.Why should the county board have control over the line items of the elected officials' departments? Would you support a budgeting plan in which a certain amount was allocated to those departments, and officials were left to decide how to spend it?Jones. Under the internal control provisions of state law, elected officials have control of their line items.Why should or shouldn't the county board move out of Geneva and consolidate operations at the Route 38 campus?Jones. Operations on a single campus would be to the benefit of the citizens of the county. I would support a consolidation, assuming we can get a fair price for the Geneva property.