Kilkelly to Run for Lake County Clerk

Janet E. Kilkelly has announced her candidacy for Lake County clerk in 2014.

“I believe that Lake County residents deserve a County Clerk’s office that delivers services efficiently so that taxpayer dollars are stretched as far as possible,” Kilkelly, who plans to run in the Democratic primary, said in a press release. “The Clerk’s office projected 2014 budget will cost county taxpayers just under $4.5 million and I think that can be trimmed significantly, without cutting jobs.”

Kilkelly works for Main Street Libertyville. She previously worked at Abbott Labs, as a small business owner and as a not-for-profit volunteer.

She is serving her third term as the president of the Waukegan Park District and is in her third six-year term as an at-large elected commissioner.

Previously, Kilkelly served as an elected trustee on the Waukegan Township Board for a four-year term, serving the North Chicago, Beach Park, Park City and Waukegan communities. She was an Illinois governor appointee to the Waukegan Port Authority Board, serving five years in governance and oversight of the development and administration of the Waukegan recreational and commercial harbors and the Waukegan Regional Airport.

Kilkelly has also raised charter funds for St. Martin de Porres High School, a corporate work study secondary school serving the Lake County urban community in partnership with business and the Cristo Rey network. 

She also has served as a volunteer and advocate for the expansion of Waukegan Public Library services. She has served as a board member on the Carnegie Preservation Project to save Waukegan’s original public library from demolition and has worked as both a volunteer and an employee for Waukegan Main Street and Libertyville Main Street to support revitalization and promotion of the Waukegan and Libertyville downtown businesses and attractions.

Kilkelly’s announcement comes a week after Lake Forest resident Carla Wyckoff said she planned to run in the Republican primary.