GENEVA – A Democrat has formally entered the race to be the next chief executive in Kane County.
On Wednesday Bill Sarto, the former village president of Carpentersville, announced he would run for the office of Kane County Board chairman.
Speaking at a small gathering in the lower level of the Kane County Governmental Center in Geneva, Sarto said he decided to enter the race for board chairman because he desired to remain in "public service" and the position represented the best fit for him.
"I had considered other options, but I believe this best suits my credentials," Sarto said.
As county board chairman, Sarto said he would use his experience as a state government employee and as the former head of Carpentersville's village government to "provide the common-sense leadership that county government must have."
He pledged that he would balance the county's budget while "holding the line on taxes."
"I know how government works, and how the budgeting process works," Sarto said. "And I understand the times we're living in today."
When asked how we would deal with the financial issues now facing the county, Sarto declined to offer specifics, saying that he would more closely examine the county's specific issues as the campaign wears on.
But he said county budgets under a Sarto administration would "take into consideration how we can streamline things."
He also declined to say what he would do differently to balance the county's budget than the current administration.
When asked what issues, other than finances, the county should deal with in the future, Sarto said he believed the county should "be mindful of natural resources," such as its drinking water supply.
He applauded the Kane County Forest Preserve District as "progressive, and forward-thinking" for its passage of last year's referendum to fund forest preserve land buys.
Sarto said he recognized the difficulties he will face in the upcoming race, as a Democrat running in a heavily Republican county, in a race that will require significant finances to compete.
He said he anticipated this race would be "a struggle."
Sarto becomes the first Democrat to seek the Kane board chairman position.
Two Republicans, State Sen. Chris Lauzen of Aurora and Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns, declared their candidacies earlier this year.
Current Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay has said she will not seek reelection in 2012, deciding instead to run as a Republican for the Illinois State Senate.
Sarto served as village president of Carpentersville from 2005-09.
When he became village president in 2005, he retired from 31 years of employment with the state of Illinois that began in the Illinois Secretary of State's Office in Elgin.
From 1977-2005, Sarto worked as a field auditor for the Illinois Comptroller's Office, serving under five Illinois comptrollers.
Sarto's tenure as village president was marked by politically charged debates over an ordinance that made English the official language of Carpentersville and attempts to enact a proposed ordinance to penalize business owners and landlords who hire or house illegal immigrants.
Sarto opposed both of those ordinances.
During Sarto's term, that village board also fought over whether to remove a political opponent of Sarto's from the Carpentersville village board, after that trustee, Paul Humpfer, was convicted of domestic battery.
Sarto, 62, is single with no children.
