Kane County Treasurer David Rickert expected to resign

Kane County Treasurer David Rickert, having lost his bid to become board chairman, will now leave the county entirely after 22 years of service.

Rickert is poised to become the chief financial officer of Rockford-based Winnebago County following a Thursday vote by their county board. Rickert did not immediately respond to an interview request, but his looming departure was confirmed by Kane County Republican Party Chairman Ken Shepro.

Two years remain on Rickert's term. That means new Kane County Board Chairman Corinne Pierog will be tasked with appointing someone to fill the seat.

Pierog, on just her third day in office, said she will take some time to review the rules regarding filling the vacancy. She said she spoke with Rickert, and he plans to be heavily involved in preparing his staff for his departure, which may not occur until the end of January.

"His wealth of experience is going to be missed," Pierog said. "At the same time, having the opportunity to have new eyes and new concepts in the office is an opportunity."

Shepro said statute requires the appointee to be a Republican or at least someone who pulled a GOP ballot for the spring 2020 primary election.

"If they did pull a Republican ballot, they are a Republican," Shepro said. "Of course, that can mean a lot of things. They could have voted Democrat in every election before that, but they would now, technically, be a Republican."

Anyone Pierog selects would have to be approved through a county board vote. Pierog is the first Democrat to lead the Kane County Board in modern history. She also has the first majority-Democrat county board, though several Democrats and Republicans on the board have been known to cross party lines in recent years.

Pierog said she expects Rickert will have two to three names for suggested successors. However, Shepro said Rickert has made it known to him would like his chief deputy, Maria Herrera, to fill the vacancy. Shepro described Herrera as "non-political."

"We could just say, for the two years, let's appoint a placeholder who is not going to run for the seat in 2022," Shepro said. "That way no one gets a leg up on the election by running as an incumbent."

Pierog defeated Rickert in the race for chairman last month by slightly more than 2,000 votes, a difference of less than 1 percentage point.