After a monthslong selection process, Kane County’s two new board members were sworn in Tuesday and took their seats for the first time at the board’s monthly meeting.
Kimberley Young will serve as the new District 2 member and Jennifer Abbatacola is filling the District 9 seat.
Both seats have been vacant for some time as the board debated how to fill the spots before the upcoming 2026 general election when both positions will be up for grabs.
Young was one of the candidates originally floated for the District 2 seat, a recommendation that previously failed to secure board approval in November. Abbatacola was former District 9 board member Gary Daugherty’s stated pick to succeed him in the role.
Kane County’s District 2 board seat had been vacant since early October, when board member Dale Berman died at the age of 91. Berman was a longtime resident of North Aurora and a four-term village president, and had served on the Kane County Board since 2021.
The board sought applications for Berman’s seat and made several attempts to appoint someone to fill the spot until it’s up for election in the fall of 2026, but ultimately failed to vote in a candidate in November.
The District 9 seat, on the other hand, opened after former board member Daugherty resigned in December, citing illness as the reason for his stepping down. The county began seeking candidates to fill Daugherty’s seat later that month, and officially declared the seat vacant in January.
For both seats, an appointment by the board is only set to last through November, when candidates for both will be voted on by residents of their respective districts in the fall general election.
Of the two newly-seated board members, Abbatacola, a Republican, is running in the March primary in advance of November’s election, while Young is not, records from the Kane County Clerk’s Office show. Another Republican candidate, Jeffrey R. Magnussen, is also running in the Republican primary for the District 9 seat, and Marc A. Guttke is running as a Democrat. Three Democrats are currently in the running for the District 2 seat: Ellen Nottke, Martha Davidson and Matthew Dingeldein.
Throughout the candidate appointment process, the impending election became a snag in the board’s plans to appoint candidates to the seats, with Kane County Board Chair Corinne Pierog expressing hesitation to appoint a candidate who was in the running in 2026 out of concern that the appointee would gain an unfair edge in the race.
Some board members also criticized the selection process itself, requesting greater transparency. Similar criticisms arose when the board made its last appointment — District 7 member Alex Arroyo, who in early 2025 replaced former board member Monica Silva after she was elected Kane County coroner.
There was also the issue of state statute, which stipulates that a new county board member has to be approved within 60 days of a vacancy occurring. It has been fewer than 60 days since Daugherty’s resignation, but the seat formerly held by Berman has been vacant for about four months.
In November, when the board failed to approve a District 2 candidate, the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office said it was unclear what would happen if the board passed 60 days without selecting a candidate, but said the board could bring up a resolution to appoint someone any time before the 2026 general election and that such an appointment would be presumed valid unless challenged.
The board ultimately revisited the potential appointments in January, two candidate search committees met and made their selections and the full board approved Young and Abbatacola’s appointments at a special board meeting last week.
Then, on Tuesday, the two candidates were sworn in, and officially took their seats on the board.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Pierog said she is “sure (the board is) going to welcome them with open arms, with guidance, an opportunity to share with them, for the next several months until the end of November, the workings of this board.”
She also encouraged the two new board members to ask questions as they get to work.
Abbatacola said she works in marketing for local businesses, but was a “complete political outsider” until somewhat recently, she told The Beacon-News on Tuesday. She had not been involved in local politics before but said that when it seemed as though former board member Gary Daugherty would not be running for reelection and that his seat would be open, she started learning more about local government and ultimately decided to run for the District 9 seat in the 2026 election.
“I just took it one step at a time, and I figured at any point in time, someone was going to tell me I shouldn’t be doing this,” Abbatacola told The Beacon-News on Tuesday. “And that’s not what happened … I sat in people’s living rooms and talked to them, and they thanked me. They were like, ‘We need fresh ideas.’”
Abbatacola, whose district encompasses the northwest corner of Kane County, including portions of Hampshire, Huntley, Pingree Grove and Elgin, is from Hampshire, and she was born and raised in Illinois.
She called Daugherty’s support for her being appointed to the seat “an honor,” and, now that she’s been selected, said she is “excited to work hard” in the role. Her “number one priority,” she said on Tuesday, is to represent western Kane County, an area that is fast-growing and “needs attention.”
“Those are good people, and they have quietly paid their taxes and raised their families,” Abbatacola said. “And they deserve a strong voice on the board.”
Young, the new District 2 member, is originally from Aurora, she told The Beacon-News on Tuesday. She spent her career working as a dentist, but has since retired, and then started getting involved in community organizations.
Serving in a political office, however, had not been in her plans, she said, calling herself a “behind the scenes person.” But then she heard about the open District 2 seat and decided to apply.
Young is not running for the seat in the 2026 general election. On Tuesday, Young cited her age – she said she is approaching 70 years old – and said she “would really like to see younger people” serving on the board in the future.
She also noted that the timeframe means she will likely be limited in terms of what she can accomplish, and expects that she will “just barely be out of the learning curve” when her time on the board ends, but said it’s “all about service.”
“It’s a matter of service to the community,” she said.
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
