Incumbent Perez to face former co-worker Kramer for sheriff

Voters today will determine whether to return Kane County Sheriff Pat Perez to office or replace him with former colleague and Republican challenger Don Kramer.

As far back as the February primary, Kramer had been critical of Perez's leadership. Kramer said a balanced budget while still providing effective public service was his No. 1 campaign issue.

“I will restructure management positions to ensure that department heads maintain a strict financial plan and develop operational strategies that efficiently address the needs of the community,” Kramer said.

Perez, a Democrat, said he plans to “continue to provide proactive law enforcement and ensure the safety of the citizens of Kane County and the safety of our deputies.”

Perez said he will “continue to streamline our organization and seek fiscal efficiencies. We have weathered the economic downturn by eliminating 10 positions in our organization, all upper management. We also negotiated a wage concession with the public safety union members, and nonunion workers have endured a wage freeze.”

Kramer does not endorse the use of red light cameras as a means to reduce crashes at intersections. Perez has been a proponent of the cameras but played the issue down at a debate last month by saying, “It's really not up to Mr. Kramer or myself if red-light cameras are implemented in Kane County. I don't have a problem with them, but that is not at the forefront of what I do as a sheriff.”

Perez and Kramer both support the opening of the mothballed expansion space at the county jail to end the practice of paying to ship inmates out of the county when the jail is full.