By Stephen Nelson
At the Tuesday, April 9, Kankakee County Board meeting, Chairman Andy Wheeler announced the appointment of Ryan Marion to fill the vacated seat formerly held by Ray Fairchild, who resigned his board seat in February without offering the board any official reason for his decision. The county board voted 19-4 to appoint Marion, a Republican, who was unopposed in the primary.
Marion currently works for the Village of Manteno, where he is Director of Building and Zoning and oversees code enforcement. He’s been in that position for seven years.
County Board member John Fetherling, District 7, voted no to the appointment, citing conflict of interest because Marion is employed by the village he would represent on the county board. Wheeler said it wasn’t a conflict because it was two different jurisdictions.
Marion has publicly spoken in favor of Gotion coming to Manteno.
Ryan McHeffey, a resident of Manteno, had expressed interest in the position and was outspoken in his opposition to Gotion.
In other business, the county board approved the abatement of the 2023 county property tax payable this year. This means property tax statements mailed to residents will reflect $0 due to Kankakee County.