Kane County chair candidates talk budget, free-speech dustup

Kane County voters are choosing whether to give Democratic board Chair Corinne Pierog a second term, or whether it is time to turn the gavel back over to a Republican by electing Lance Bell.

Bell, 55, of South Elgin, owns the ServingIntel point-of-sale software and hardware company, and runs a nonprofit called Christian Leadership Ministries.

Describing himself as a servant leader, Bell is making his first run for elected office. Despite that lack of experience, he said he had no interest in serving first as a county board member.

“If I was going to engage, it would be strictly in a leadership capacity,” he said.

Pierog, 73, is a management consultant who served two terms on the St. Charles District 303 school board before being elected county board chair in 2020.

Bell has criticized the county’s increased spending during Pierog’s tenure, but she notes that is largely a result of federal COVID-19 relief money, about $104 million in all. Sales tax revenue also increased due to inflation, she said.

“The Democrats brought that (inflation) on,” Bell replied.

Bell also criticized Pierog’s response to protesters who support his candidacy earlier this year. In September, Pierog had county staff put up signs designating “free speech” zones away from the entrance to the county building and a drive-up property-tax payment box. She did so without consulting the county board or its ad hoc public safety committee.

The local Republican Party chair lambasted the move, and the state’s attorney, a fellow Democrat, urged her to take the signs down. Democratic Sheriff Ron Hain, whose office oversees security at county buildings, said he was not consulted before the signs went up.

Pierog maintains she asked the sheriff several months earlier about monitoring public demonstrations at the building, and that she consulted with the assistant state’s attorney who advises the board.

The free-speech zones she said, stemmed from safety concerns, because protesters were gathering near a drive-through lane.

She previously said that people visiting the building weren’t there to be met with protests.

“The last thing they want to do is be confronted by someone with pamphlets and engage in conversation,” she said.

Bell said there was plenty of space for the protesters and passing vehicles.

“What I would do differently, I would have gone through public safety (committee) to research, have a conversation,” Bell said. “I won’t go around the board.”

To watch a video of Bell and Pierog meeting with a representative of the Daily Herald Editorial Board, visit dailyherald.com.