LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Posted March 14, 2020
Dear Editor:
This letter is in response to Barbara McMath’s letter on 3/10/2020. Mrs. McMath compared the new candidates to some members of the county board that nearly ran DeWitt County into the ground from 2010-2014. “Poor leadership led our county to public embarrassment and near bankruptcy” is what Mrs. McMath wrote. She claims the new candidates aren’t experienced leaders and could ruin the county.
The new candidates running in the Republican primary were leaders BEFORE they even signed up to run for office. These candidates were qualified financially to run a business or organization BEFORE they signed up to run for office.
Jamie Prestegaard has a degree in Agriculture & Economics. He’s involved with commodity price risk management for his place of employment. This entails analyzing commodity markets while developing an effective hedge strategy to maintain company profitability. Mr. Prestegaard has sat on the Waynesville Township board since 2009 serving as a both a trustee and (currently) township clerk.
Aaron Kammeyer has an Agribusiness degree and has been Board President of the group that has helped make Warner Hospital profitable. Mr. Kammeyer has helped make the hospital financially stable, which has led to expanded programs and better facilities. He also has experience being the treasurer of the Clinton Fire Department.
Buck Carter has been a county board member before. He also has experience on the CUSD 15 school board where he helped create and oversee the school budget. Mr. Carter also has experience negotiating with the local teachers’ union for salary and benefits.
Steve Oswald has a degree in Business Administration. He has managed businesses with budgets between 3-17 million dollars. Mr. Oswald is currently on the school board where is on the transportation committee, one of the largest parts of the school district’s budget.
Megan Myers has a degree in Management and Information Systems. Mrs. Myers is part of a global operations team focused on identifying and implementing best practices along with managing change to meet today’s business challenges. She is also on the finance committee for the Clinton Community Educational Foundation.
Thomas Koshinski manages payroll for a successful business in Clinton. Mr. Koshinski also has experience with internal audits in a business setting. He is interested in seeing an audit of the county’s finances to make sure taxpayer money is allocated appropriately.
I believe that each new candidate is concerned about the present and future financial state of the county. Candidates this qualified in the financial sector would not run for office if they did not have concern about the financial state of DeWitt County.
I ask that Mrs. McMath and others who feel the same as her stick to debating policy. If you and others want to debate the special use permit process, roads, bridges, public safety, the marina, taxes, the proposed windfarm, or anything else, please contact the candidates.
Trying to link these candidates to “poor leadership” and “bankruptcy” is a mistake and it’s the furthest from the truth.
Jim Rhoades
Kenney, IL