Excerpts from the Kane County Chronicle:
This election season is giving voters in the Fox River and Countryside Fire/Rescue District a first: a contested race for trustee.
Pam Turriff, 62, and incumbents Robert Handley, 63, and Chuck Dunham, 68, are vying for two six-year terms.
The April 7 election is the second consolidated election since 2012, when district residents voted to have elected trustees. Previously, the Kane and the DuPage county boards appointed the trustees at the recommendation of their respective board chairman.
The candidates in the April 7 race share similar goals regarding firefighter pay. The district has placed a referendum on the spring ballot that, if approved, would lead to increased wages, among other investments.
Handley and Dunham – who both saw the fire district go from a paper district that contracted services from St. Charles to a fully functional district with two stations and land for a third – said competitive wages would help the district retain personnel.
The incumbents said their experience with the district separates them from Turriff … [who] said she would bring a fresh perspective to the board.
