Townships are the oldest and a less visible form of local government in Illinois. The elected officials under the township are the supervisor, trustees, who sit on the township board of trustees, the highway commissioner, clerk and assessor.
In Belvidere Township the only contested race is in the Republican primary election for township supervisor. Here are the candidates' profiles:
Bernard O’Malley
He has served as a trustee on the Belvidere Township Board of Trustees for four years.
Before that he’s served on several boards including the Boone County Board, and Boone County Board of Health.
The 78-year-old is a retired family physician. He said if elected supervisor he’d be more accessible to the public than his predecessor.
“I'd like to have some monthly coffees with people in our building,” he said. “And I just like to make a little more a little more friendly than it has been.”
O’Malley also said he’d want to see the township offer activities to residents free of charge.
“Our park district charges for every activity they have,” he said. Everything that's being done, you have to pay for it at the YMCA. I'd like to see some things that are free for the town and get people together.”
If elected, O’Malley said he won’t be taking the insurance or the pension benefits and will donate his salary to charity. The Belvidere township salary is $46,000 dollars.
“I really don't need the money,” O’Malley said.
He said in contrast the other candidate may have another motive.
“The opponent is really interested I think in the pension, the money and the insurance,” he said. "I think that's one reason that people are running for it.”
What does a township supervisor role entail?
A supervisor is commonly described as the CEO of the township. This person chairs the township board of trustees' meetings. The board approves the budget for all the township activities including at the offices of the highway commissioner and the assessor.
In addition, the supervisor oversees the general assistance program, which is a need-based program for single adults.
The Township’s current budget for roads and bridges for its fiscal year ending in March is $8.6 million dollars. The board of trustees approved $4.5 million for all its other functions.
An effort had been made at the state level to get rid of the township as an entity, for what critics argued was a redundant form of government, but both candidates defended.
“We do everything at a much lower cost,” said O’Malley. “We don't have any waste. Everything is done very cleanly in the townships.”
Rodney Riley
Boone County Board member Rodney Riley did not mention finances as a motive for running for the role.
“I did some background research on the position entitles and the duties and the responsibilities, and I felt that it was just a perfect match for this transition in my life," Riley said. “Moving away from being in law enforcement for the last 38 years. And not necessarily to slow down, but just look at a different type of public service.”
Riley currently works at the McHenry Courthouse with the sheriff’s office. He said if elected to township supervisor, he would resign his job and continue to hold his seat on the Boone County Board. He’s served on the county board for the last five years with the last two years as chairman.
Riley said he’s been told the current supervisor treats the job like a part-time position, but he plans on serving full-time.
“I really think that somebody needs to be in there more often," he said. “Another thing the supervisor should be doing, too, is attending public events.”
He said with the upcoming retirement of long-time secretary Terri Bullard, the supervisor will have to take on more responsibilities.
“In my opinion," he said, "the Supervisor is going to have to learn a lot of those duties that the Secretary performed or at least have a working knowledge of it."
And Riley said he’s up for the task in comparison to O’Malley.
“Very nice gentleman,” he said, “I just don't think he has an idea of just how much time is going to need to be spent in that office. I think he's more in a retirement mode at this point, and just not sure exactly how much time he's going to be able to commit.”
Latino representation at the township
Belvidere Township maintains about 90 miles of roads and entails most of Belvidere City and parts of Poplar Grove. Latinos make up 37 percent of the City Of Mural's population, according to the U.S. Census.
Over 26 percent of homes in Belvidere speak Spanish as their primarily language, but there’s no Spanish speakers at the township office.
When WNIJ asked the candidates whether having Latino, bilingual staff members at the township would be of value, both agreed that it was important in order to best serve all residents.
The last day to vote in the consolidated election primary race is February 25.
