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Kane Co. announces finalists for Metra, RTA appointments

Two members of an 11-person finalist list will become Kane County’s representatives on the Metra and RTA boards Tuesday. Several of the finalists are past applicants for the positions.

Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen called for a thorough, but expedited, appointment process earlier this week as both transportation boards have lost representation in recent weeks. A bipartisan, four-member panel of county board members developed individual shortlists, which Lauzen then compiled into one list of finalists. He said he plans on interviewing at least half the people on the list by Monday. The finalists are:

Ÿ Manuel Barbosa, retired judge and previous applicant.

Ÿ Don DeWitte, former mayor of St. Charles, a member of Lauzen’s campaign team and a previous applicant.

Ÿ Carl Dinwiddie, aviation accident consultant, former central region chief of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Ÿ Edward Evert, major gifts officer for St. Ignatius College Prep, former CEO of Geneva Group, former assistant vice president for the Chicago & North Western Transportation Co.

Ÿ Mary Fleischmann, accounting manager at Fuji Machine America Corp.

Ÿ Joseph Galvan, principal at Galvan and Associates, former Midwest regional director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and a previous applicant.

Ÿ Glen Holland, senior manager at Accenture Technology consulting, CPA.

Ÿ Bonnie Kunkel, former Kane County Board member, attorney and a previous applicant.

Ÿ D.J. Tegeler, criminal defense attorney.

Ÿ Bernard Thomas, Pingree Grove village board member, and a previous applicant.

Ÿ Jake Wyatt, a recent candidate for St. Charles mayor, customer service vice president at Genco Supply, former regional manager for Sears Roebuck & Co.

Lauzen said he is looking for “a proven record of administrative, management and budgetary skills, detailed knowledge of Kane County government policies and a clear record of representing and protecting its interests, and a shared vision of keeping taxes low and working to improve the lives of Kane County residents.”

Lauzen said all of the applicants are especially brave to apply for the positions given the heightened scrutiny of the boards.

“Under the current stressful situations at both these transit boards, friends have kidded me and several applicants, that a full psychological assessment should be conducted on any person who would dare to apply for these duties,” Lauzen said in a written statement. “That is further reason why I am doubly grateful for these distinguished citizens’ courage and obvious competence to serve. Unfortunately, in coming to a difficult conclusion with so many highly-qualified candidates, I will please only one person and disappoint three dozen others.”

At least 20 people applied for both appointments. The full county board must still approve Lauzen’s selections.

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