If Republicans hope to win back control of the McLean County Board in the upcoming election, they will need to flip three Democratic seats. Taking two seats would lead to a tie.
The GOP has its eye on one seat that represents south Bloomington which has no incumbent on the ballot.
The two candidates running for the open seat in McLean County Board District 9 [south Bloomington] are both new to the county board but have served the community in different ways.
Democrat Jennifer Brown and Republican Kevin Lower are running for the seat currently held by Democrat Natalie Roseman-Mendoza. She's not running for re-election.
Brown has been involved in the community in various ways. She's been a Jaycee, served on Bloomington's technology commission and helped lead a campaign for the city's first inclusive playground for children with special needs. Now, Brown wants something more.
“I’ve always just kind of dabbled in a lot of community service aspects and I saw the county board as an opportunity to take that community involvement to another level,” Brown said.
Lower has already been in public life. He served one term on the Bloomington City Council a decade ago and ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2017. He calls himself a fiscal hawk and said that's what drives him to serve. He wants to bring that mindset to county government.
“Trying to reduce our tax burden, I feel that many in our culture are overly taxed and opposed, basically, financially,” Lower said.
Lower said he helped bring down costs while on the Bloomington City Council, where he pushed back on a proposal to build a new city hall — and instead utilize the downtown Government Center more. Most city offices are now housed there. He also opposed building a new Bloomington Public Library that was considered at the time. The library eventually expanded at its current location.
Lower sells cars at a dealership in Clinton. Brown works for State Farm where she helps negotiate contracts for the insurer. Brown said that experience would help her oversee how public dollars are spent.
“A big piece of my job is to make sure we are being good stewards of our policyholder dollars. I kind of thought I might be able to take that experience and that knowledge that I’ve learned at State Farm and apply that to the county board as well, making sure we are being good stewards of our taxpayer dollars as well,” Brown said.
Lower said he had experience working with county government when he was on the city council. Just about all of his old county contacts are gone, but he suspects things haven't changed that much in a decade.
In 2015, Lower voted against the sales tax increase that helped support mental health and public safety — a fund the county manages. Lower said he wanted the tax to have an expiration date.
“I didn’t disagree that we needed to do the things they were proposing to do with it, but there was no grandfather clause. There was no nothing ending that once things were taken care of,” Lower said.
The sales tax does not expire, though the agreement between the city, county and Town of Normal lasts 20 years. County officials have said they want to continue supporting mental health and public safety after the agreement lapses.
Now that the fund has grown to $20 million, Lower said he would like to see where that can be trimmed.
Lower makes clear fiscal discipline would be a primary focus if elected to the county board, along with supporting public safety and infrastructure.
“The county typically — it appears to me — does a pretty good job with infrastructure. A lot of people don’t understand what is actually a city street and what is county responsibility and what is state responsibility,” Lower said.
Brown describes her politics as leaning Democratic and says she takes a data-driven approach to government. One issue where Brown is passionate is housing.
“Housing is a human right. I think folks should be able to afford a place to live. I don’t think that people should be going hungry in one of the richest nations,” Brown said.
Brown said she wants to better understand what role the county can play to expand housing. She said it may take some creative ideas.
Lower is in a similar position regarding his priorities, if elected. He said it will take time to figure out where spending can be cut.
Both Lower and Brown say they have a lot to learn about the inner workings of county government if they are called to serve.
Election day is Nov. 3. Early voting is already underway.
