Barnett announces candidacy for McLean County Board

Posted on August 14, 2015

Josh Barnett is running for the 10th District seat on the McLean County Board in 2016. (Photo courtesy Josh Barnett)

By Joe Ragusa

BLOOMINGTON – The primary election for the McLean County Board is seven months away and the current vice chairman of the county’s Republican party is throwing his hat into the ring.

Josh Barnett is running for the 10th District seat and told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin that government transparency is going to be one of the key issues in his campaign. That’s because when the Illinois Policy Institute issued ratings on the transparency of government websites, the organization gave McLean County a 44 out of 100.

“I’d like to see the county board form a task force with some county board members as well as some staff,” Barnett said. “(They should) look to see what they can do to get that score up closer to 100. Maybe look at some ‘best practices’ from other counties across the nation.”

The city of Bloomington earned a 96 out of 100 rating in that same report. Republican Ben Owen is the incumbent in McLean County’s 10th District.

The primary is March 15.

Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].

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