Cory Lind to finish Paul Larson’s term on County Board

By Shelby R. Farrell
Reporter
BELVIDERE – With elections in sight, the Boone County Board of Trustees quickly found an interim member to fill the vacant District II seat until elections in November.
Paul Larson retired from the county board on Dec. 31. In an email Larson addressed to Chairman Bob Walberg on Dec. 22, he explained that he and his family would be moving out of Boone County and would no longer be able to serve on the board.
Walberg expressed regrets in seeing Larson resign, and he said everyone looked up to Larson’s leadership as Vice-Chairman of the board.
“Honestly, one of Paul’s biggest accomplishments was getting the animal services building started,” Walberg said. “Everyone had different ideas. Paul brought everyone together. I can very much attest that Paul was the glue. He was the magic that made it work.”
His resignation was officially announced at the Jan. 20 meeting, and lifelong Boone County resident Cory Lind was appointed to fill his seat until Nov. 30 at the same meeting.
“We would usually advertise this more, but it didn’t seem practical to put someone in for a few months,” Chairman Walberg said. “We considered the three people running for the board in the primaries.”
Walberg said one of the three people running for election is currently on the county board, so the choice was narrowed to two candidates. The Boone County Republican Central Committee unanimously recommended Lind for the vacant seat.
“He’s lived in our county all his life I think,” Walberg said. “He has a good nature and will work well with others. He joined us on the board on Wednesday and seemed cordial and comfortable there.”
Lind graduated from Belvidere High School and Northern Illinois University, and he served in the Army National Guard and was deployed in Iraq, according to a news release. He currently works in Boone County as a safety manager with Peoples Gas.