Kenyon, Barconi having opposing motivations for Kane County Board seat

One of the main differences between the two candidates seeking to represent the South Elgin-based 16th District of the Kane County Board is the reason they want the job.

The Republican incumbent, Mike Kenyon, wants to bring his experience of being on the board before Chairman Chris Lauzen came on the scene to rein in a leader he thinks has become a "junkyard bully."

Democrat challenger Jennifer Barconi, said she will come into the position without preconceived judgments or allegiances to anyone on the board. She represents a fresh start, she said.

Kenyon and Lauzen have a history of acrimony. In 2010, Lauzen, while still serving in the state Senate, called for the replacement of Kenyon as the leader of the Kane County Republican Party. In response, Kenyon said Lauzen had "a small brain." Lauzen led the ousting of Kenyon's removal from party leadership two years later. Lauzen then waltzed to victory for his first term as board chairman.

Now Kenyon points to Lauzen's recent illegal hiring of an outside law firm and expenditure of taxpayer dollars as a prime example of Lauzen's tenure as chairman. Only a person with the history of seeing how the county can operate well can get the county back on track, Kenyon said.

"If somebody doesn't challenge (Lauzen), he'll own the county," Kenyon said. "He brushes by the rules so that he can do what he wants to. Everything he promised people, he hasn't done. He did not drain any swamps of cronies; he filled them. Why do you think he hates (Coroner) Rob Russell? He can't control him."

Barconi said she won't bring any of those old or new grudges to the table. She wants the seat because she thinks Kenyon has lost touch with residents of the district. She hopes she can find in Lauzen a leader similar to the one she serves with on the South Elgin Village Board, President Steve Ward.

"As president, what Mr. Ward has done is mentor people," Barconi said. "He's very humble, and I hope I'll have the same experience in Kane County. I can't prejudge anyone at the county. We have a very inclusive village president in South Elgin. And I am hoping I'll have the same type of relationship with chairman Lauzen, where he will be inclusive, not exclusive."

The contest is a rematch. Kenyon defeated Barconi by about 400 votes in 2012 to win his third term on the board.