Term limits for McHenry County chairman?

A McHenry County Board committee is mulling a pair of referendums that would change the way the county board’s highest ranking member is elected to the position and the length of service.

The Management Services committee on Monday discussed holding a referendum during the 2012 primary election asking if they would support electing the county board chairman at large.

A separate referendum question would ask voters if they would approve term limits for the county board chairman.

The chairman is now elected by the 24-member county board from among its members with no limit to the number of terms the chairman may serve. The discussion of term limits was first introduced last December after current County Board Chairman Ken Koehler was elected by the board to serve a fourth two-year term.

Members of the committee said the proposal to elect the chairman stemmed from a proposal to impose term limits on the position after the committee received an informal decision from the state’s attorney’s office that says the state statute prevents the board from setting term limits.

Electors, however, can impose term limits, the informal decision said.

“Electing the county board chairman at large would solve some of the problems that some of the board members that are looking for term limits have,” said Sandra Salgado, a county board member from McHenry and member of the Management Services Committee. “There is a group of us that really think that the chairman is only accountable to his district.”

Koehler could not be reached for comment.

If the county board decides to pursue term limits for the county board chairman, Management Services Committee Vice Chairman Barbara Wheeler said the committee would request a formal decision from the state’s attorney’s office.

“We need to know if it would be appropriate to change board rules,” Wheeler said.

Board member Donna Kurtz said she supports term limits to allow new faces to enter the mix. The changes would also present an opportunity for McHenry County to set a precedent for other counties.

“We could be a role model for the state in providing a government that provides services to people instead of a self-serving government,” Kurtz said. “We all know that this state desperately needs a role model; why not let that be McHenry County.”

The committee has not yet finalized details of either proposal. The full county board could consider each referendum at the second board meeting in February.