Republican members of the DuPage County Board defended the proposed merging of the county election commission with the office of county clerk’s office in the face of criticism leveled at last week’s board meeting. During public comments made at the Feb. 14 meeting, several people expressed concern over such issues as new election commissioner salaries and the merger provision that allows board Chairman Dan Cronin, a Republican, to nominate the Democrat serving on an expanded five-member election board.
“If you look at the system we have now, this will be a huge, huge change,” Cronin said, following the meeting. “The 18 county board members now will have an advice-and-consent role over the pick and the pay, which they did not have before.”
“This board, I argue, is the appropriate venue for an appointment,” District 1 county board member John Curran said. “We are the democratically elected representatives of the residents of DuPage County. The appointments are made by the governing body, and this is the governing body of DuPage County.”
Full Article: GOP board members defend election commission merger process – Naperville Sun.