District 11 Will County Board Candidates Debate Pensions, Term Limits

The theme of Monday night’s candidate forum for the Will County Board’s 11th District was fiscal responsibility, respect and due diligence. 

A forum was held Monday night at the  to allow voters to meet with candidates running for the 11th District seats on the board. Candidates attended the event. The two other candidates, Suzanne Hart and Chuck Maher, declined the invitation to participate. 

The candidates asked four questions—two relating to pension reform and term limits, and then two others coming from members of the audience.

Both Hudetz and Holscher agreed term limits are needed and that no official should serve more than two terms.

“This is the source of the problem, these people can be down there for 20, 30 years,” Hudetz said. “(We should) limit these people to two terms. This is a real strong basis for our campaign—term limits. We want to stop after two terms (for) any state or county official … It just doesn’t make any sense after that. (It's) something I will pledge and force the issue at the county level.” 

Holscher said term limits would ensure officials keep their “eye on the ball.”

The candidates were also asked about their position on pensions for part-time officials. Both Hudetz and Holscher agreed that they shouldn’t be allowed.

“No, I do not support pensions for part time officials because they are crippling segments of our government,” Holscher said.

Reviewing the financial situation for Will County, Holscher said there are roughly $64 million in unfunded pensions and the county has more than $600 million in debt. If elected, she said she would tell the truth and work with real numbers that make sense to everybody. In order to move forward and do something positive, she said there needs to be a clear understanding of the reality of the situation.

Hudetz said the pair are conservative constitutionalists and he is all for pension reform. 

“I will not take a pension as an elected official,” Hudetz said. 

The audience was able to submit questions to the candidates and one of the questions asked was whether Holscher and Hudetz thought it was appropriate to accept campaign donations from vendors working with the county.

Holscher said that even if it was done on the up-and-up, such a practice was unseemly and shouldn’t even be necessary at the county level. 

“The thought of bartering my integrity to take monies in exchange for business favors is so repulsive to me, I’m just dying to people who are doing it and find out why they are so desperate to keep their positions,” Hudetz said. “With my bean counter background it’s going to be hard to hide it.”

During the forum, the , which is will be funded by the , city of Bolingbrook and Will County, also came up. Both candidates said they feel the $33 million project is unneeded. 

The 95th Street corridor was never built out as intended and as a result, the bridge is not necessary, Holscher said. 

“It’s not that it’s an archaic ideal whose time has past, it’s a fact that we don’t need it and it’s not fiscally responsible,” she said.