Reporter nominated to fill county board seat

Reporter tapped to join Lake Co. board

By Russell Lissau, the Daily Herald

A newspaper reporter who has been covering the Lake County Board for years is set to become the panel’s newest member, officials said Tuesday morning.

Jim Newton, a staff writer at the Lake County News-Sun, is board Chairman David Stolman’s choice to replace Suzi Schmidt as representative for the board’s 3rd District.
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The county board must confirm Stolman’s pick. That could happen March 15.

Stolman called Newton, of Lindenhurst, a “nonpolitical entity” who will bring a deep background to the job.

“I didn’t want it to be a political appointment,” said Stolman, a Buffalo Grove Republican. “I wanted it to be a business decision.”

As of this week, Newton remains employed by the News-Sun, county officials said.

Schmidt — Stolman’s predecessor as the board’s leader — resigned in January after she was elected to the state Senate. By law, her replacement had to be a Republican living in her district.

Schmidt, a Lake Villa Republican, had served as the county’s District 3 representative since 1988. In 2000, she became the first woman selected to lead the panel, and she served an unprecedented five terms as chairwoman.

She unseated Democratic state Sen. Michael Bond in November.

About seven or eight people had applied to fill the board vacancy, Stolman said. Newton approached Stolman about the seat and “was just heads and shoulders above everybody else,” the chairman said.

Newton will serve until 2012, at which time he can choose to run for office. The entire board will be reorganized that year because of redistricting prompted by the new Census figures.

The board will discuss Stolman’s recommendation Friday during a committee-of-the-whole meeting.