Urban and Rural Representation

Before 1972, Kendall County was governed by a Board of Supervisors.  Its members were the nine Township Supervisors.  Each had an equal vote.  This meant that the Supervisor from a Township with 10,000 people had the same voting power as Supervisor of a Township with 500.

The Illinois Constitution of 1970 mandated that county governing boards be reconfigured to reflect the one-man-one-vote principle.  Early in 1972, a special election was held to choose a new 10-member County Board to replace the Board of Supervisors.  Five members were elected from each of two districts.  We still use that arrangement.

Forty years ago, Kendall County was a lot different from what it is today.  We had less than half the population we have now.  More importantly, it was distributed much differently.  In 1972, 62% of us lived in rural areas and only 38% lived in places that could be considered urban or suburban.  Chicago TV newscasters routinely referred to us as “downstate Kendall County”.  We were also known as the “map key”, because map publishers pasted the map key where Kendall County should have appeared.  Relatively few of us were employed outside the county and the Aurora-Naperville area.  Today, we are considered part of the Chicago metropolitan area and are sometimes referred to as “the seventh collar county”.  Many more of us are employed in locations in and around Chicago.

The 2000 census reflected an urban and suburban majority population for the first time since Kendall County was created in 1841.  When the 2010 Census data were released, we had become 78% urban and suburban and only 22% rural.  The County Board, however, continued to have a rural majority.  Even now, eight of the ten board members live in rural areas.  Many decisions by the board have reflected this perspective.

Last Spring, the County Board’s Redistricting Committee opened the process to public participation for the first time.  I submitted a proposal to divide the county into ten single-member districts.  I believe this would have assured an equitable distribution of rural and urban representation, with all segments of the population equitably represented on the County Board, with none shut out of the process.

Next week, the voters have an opportunity to redress the urban-rural balance on the County Board.  It will be up to all of us to exercise this option on Primary Day.