Politics & Government

County Exec Taps Son for Regional Supt.

Larry Walsh nominated his son, Shawn, to fill the rest of the Will County superintendent of school's term; the county board will decide Feb. 21.

Despite the appearance of nepotism, Will County Executive Larry Walsh has nominated his son to fill the open Will County regional superintendent of schools position.

The nomination was presented at the Will County Board's executive committee meeting Thursday and will be discussed and voted upon at the Feb. 21 county board meeting, according to a story in the Joliet Herald News.

Shawn Walsh, currently the county's assistant regional superintendent of schools, was the only qualified person to apply for the opening, created when Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, a Shorewood Democrat who was elected to the 49th District Senate seat, Nick Palmer, Larry Walsh’s chief of staff, told the newspaper. A second candidate did not meet the qualifications, he said.

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Larry Walsh told the Herald News that people should not have been afraid to apply for the job just because his son was a candidate, and if a "far superior" applicant emerged, he would have been chosen.

“I’m very, very proud of my son,” Walsh told the paper. “He’s always wanted to be involved in education and he planned his whole future on that.”

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Walsh, a former state senator, took similar flack last year when another son, Larry Walsh Jr., was tapped to replace state Rep. Jack McGuire, who won the primary election and shortly thereafter decided to step down from the post. Walsh Jr. was elected to the seat in November.

At least one group is criticizing Larry Walsh Sr.'s actions. Americans for Prosperity-Illinois issued a press release Thursday urging the county board to reject the nomination.

“Unfortunately, Will County politicians seem to be vying for the top position when it comes to putting personal and family interests ahead of those of the taxpayers they were elected to serve,” AFP Illinois State Director David From wrote in the release.

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