The DuPage County Forest Preserve District shared an elected board with DuPage County for many years until the two government entities split in 2002. The change came after legislation approved by the Illinois General Assembly in 1996 mandated that forest preserve district commissioners in counties having a population greater than 800,000 but less than 3,000,000 be elected separately from county board members. DuPage County cut the county board’s size from 25 (24 plus a chairman) to 18, and created the seven-member forest preserve commission (6 commissioners plus a president). The split ensured that both the DuPage County Board members and the DuPage County Forest Preserve Commissioners would be elected and compensated on a separate but equal basis, without an increase to the taxpayers.
DuPage County Forest Preserve President Dewey Pierotti was quoted in a 2-25-13 Daily Herald article as saying that the push to separate the two boards began because of concerns that county board members couldn’t “serve two masters.”
“Sometimes there were inherent conflicts of interest. If a municipality wants to extend a road and went through a forest preserve, what way are you going to act? Are you going to vote as a county board member or a forest preserve commissioner?”
Forest Preserve Commissioner Mary Lou Wehrli agreed, saying
“I think the forest preserve (commission) is very well served being independent. Because when it wasn’t, we were finding roads run through our forest preserves and other things that were not very sensitive to the environment.”
One example was the construction of Diehl Road through McDowell Grove Forest Preserve in Naperville. Another was when the combined county board and forest preserve district voted to extend the life of two now-closed landfills, Greene Valley and Mallard Lake.
The DuPage County Forest Preserve has had its share of controversy, including an investigation into the awarding of contracts, taxpayer concerns over finances, and questions about transparency. Most recently, Representatives Deb Conroy and Dennis Reboletti unsuccessfully attempted to reverse the separation of the boards by proposing legislation to eliminate the pay and benefits of the DuPage Forest Preserve Commissioners. They cited cost saving and the part-time nature of the job, which in most counties is handled by the county board.
Others were quick to disagree. DuPage County Forest Preserve President Pierotti issued a statement that
“There is an inherent conflict of interest between a county’s development interest and a forest preserve commission’s environmental mission. The County Board is expected to vote on issues relating to infrastructure and development. The Forest Preserve Board is expected to vote on how to preserve open space and nature.”
Connie Schmidt, chairman of the local Sierra Club chapter, said
“Prior to the split, difficult decisions which benefitted the county but disregarded the mission of the Forest Preserve District demonstrated why these two boards should be separate. Among these controversial decisions was the building of a school within Blackwell (Forest Preserve) and a road cutting through McDowell Woods.”
And Brook McDonald, president of the Conservation Foundation, stressed that there were good reasons why the split was made, and “those reasons still exist today.” He added that removing decision-making away from the bureaucracy of county government made the Forest Preserve’s job easier.” (Daily Herald, 2-28-13 and 3-15-13)
Kane County Board members are elected primarily to oversee the affairs of the county, and only secondarily to serve as Forest Preserve Commissioners. They may or may not have any knowledge of, or interest in, the forest preserves. Some have served with distinction and done a good job of balancing the interests of the two entities. But decisions about the acquisition and preservation of important natural lands should be made by people who are knowledgeable and passionate about nature. Serving the County’s economic development needs should not be a factor. However, at the current time that is not the case. The population of Kane County is less than 600,000, so until such time as the population exceeds the 800,000 required to separate the election of forest preserve commissioners from the election of county board members, conflicts of interest are likely to continue. Kane County Board Members/Forest Preserve District Commissioners should recognize the potential for conflict of interest inherent in serving simultaneously on two boards with different missions and take steps to deal with that conflict in a forthright manner.