Endorsement: Paula Deacon Garcia for DuPage County clerk

Let’s be blunt from the start.

We would like to be able to endorse Jean Kaczmarek for the Democratic nomination for DuPage County clerk. We were closely involved with elections in DuPage County before that process was changed and she was elected in 2018. We are closely involved with them now. We know firsthand how much more efficient and reliable the process is today.

We believe Kaczmarek’s dedication to the office’s work have likely had a similar impact on various other functions of the office, including birth and death records, licenses, tax records and more. We do not deny that, within certain boundaries, the office is well run and she is an effective administrator.

Unfortunately, though, there are matters affecting the office that extend beyond day-to-day operations and speak to the heart of public accountability and good government itself. Here, we cannot be so sanguine.

For years, Kaczmarek has refused to follow reasonable county policies related to contract bidding and budget accounting. The policies are designed to ensure transparency regarding office functions and effective management of taxpayer resources. The only response the clerk will offer in her defense is that she believes she is not legally required to abide by the policies, and she has engaged in lawsuits and countersuits with the county costing, so far, upwards of $200,000

to try to prove she is right.

This is not responsible behavior from an elected official at any level. For an office as critical as the county clerk’s, it is profoundly improper.

Fortunately, Kaczmarek is challenged for the Democratic nomination by an experienced elected official familiar with both the clerk’s duties and the management of DuPage County government. Paula Deacon Garcia has served on the county board since 2020 and, as chair of the Finance Committee, has had a front-row seat to the conflict over the clerk’s intransigence. She knows what is wrong, and she knows why fixing it is important. If she is elected this fall, she is committed to building on the operational successes of the office to restore the critical relationship with the County Board.

In addition, she offers creative ideas for expanding the reach of the office, including closer cooperation with other elected offices and public education initiatives to help people understand how elections work and why they are safe and secure. She represents a candidate whose ideas deserve to be considered by voters in November.

Jean Kaczmarek has achieved noteworthy successes in her eight years as county clerk. Paul Deacon Garcia can expand on them, and at the same time serve more openly and responsibly. Garcia is endorsed.