Chamber Backs Hulten in Position They Created

[UPDATE 1/23/2018 - I realized I overlooked an additional endorsement due to the similarity. The Farm Bureau, which also was involved with Gordy in the creation of the office also endorsed him after this. From the News-Gazette:

Farm Bureau endorses Hulten for county executive

CHAMPAIGN — Just as the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce did a month ago, the county Farm Bureau's political involvement committee has endorsed Republican Gordy Hulten to become the first county executive.

Hulten, currently the county clerk, is unopposed in the March 20 Republican primary for the county executive nomination. Darlene Kloeppel of Urbana is the lone Democratic candidate for the position...

The Farm Bureau and Chamber of Commerce worked with Hulten and state Sen. Chapin Rose in 2016 to get the county executive question on the ballot.

"Since we were part of the group behind it, we want to make sure that voters, going into the election and when it's actually in place next December, have a good understanding of what this position is going to be," Uken said. "We think that that's part of our responsibility."

Updating the links in the Executive and office/election page. Democrat Darlene Kloeppel's (including from State Treasurer Mike Frerichs and State Senator of this area) are here. Hulten's main campaign website has more links to his endorsements here.]

Originally published 12/6/2017:

This is probably not too surprising since the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce worked with Gordy Hulten to bring about the County Executive position, but this news is sure to get some askance staring from supporters of Democratic County Executive candidate Darlene Kloeppel:

Hulten lands chamber endorsement

The political action committee of the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Republican Gordy Hulten over Democrat Darlene Kloeppel to be the county's first county executive.

The unusually early announcement comes almost 11 months before the general election set for Nov. 6, 2018.

"We decided that since the chamber was such a driver for the county executive initiative in the first place we wanted to make sure if we're going to get involved that we want as much of the (election) cycle as we could and to have as much impact as we possible could," said Garret Hill, spokesman for the Business Empowered political action committee.

The chamber of commerce along with the county Farm Bureau and Hulten, currently the county clerk, and state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, were the chief proponents of the county executive proposal which was narrowly approved by voters in November 2016 by a margin of 50.26 percent to 49.74 percent...

"But the big thing that pushed us to even introduce county executive was economic development but also the stalled issues at the county like the jail and the nursing home. We really like Gordy's vision of it," Hill said.

He denied that the endorsement process favored Hulten, who had worked with the chamber on the county executive plan.

"I would say it was fair and square. They both turned in surveys, they both interviewed. It was up to the board to make the decision. That was the process and that's how it should go," he said...

This comes on the heals of arguments about whether the position's pay was inflated with current County Clerk Gordy Hulten in mind and an affinity for him personally by members of Board and County Government. More information and related news on the County Executive issue page. Candidate information and links for the County Executive race are on the County Executive office page here. I liked the informative description at the end of this N-G article so it and the news link will be added to those pages as well:

When Champaign County elects a full-time county executive next November it will become only the second county in Illinois with the office. As planned the elected executive would have broad powers, including the authority to propose the county budget, make appointments, hire a staff, set county board agendas, implement the majority of county ordinances and veto actions of the county board, although vetoes could be overridden with a three-fifths majority. The executive would also have the power to vote, but only in order to break a tie on issues before the county board.

So far at the County Board meetings it sounds like there are questions about what role the County Administrator will play in tandem with the County Executive.