Infighting and Calls for Resignation Disrupt Will County Board Meeting

Will County Board Meeting | March 19, 2026

Article Summary: Calls for the resignation of a Will County Board member over a recent misdemeanor conviction derailed the end of the board’s meeting, prompting reprimands from leadership and pleas to restore professional decorum.

Board Decorum Key Points:

• Board members Steve Balich and Mark V. Revis publicly called for the resignation of member Jacqueline Traynere following her conviction for computer tampering.

• The charge stemmed from Traynere accessing the county email account of fellow member Judy Ogalla two and a half years ago.

• Traynere defended her actions as “whistleblowing” to expose a security flaw where all members reportedly shared the same default password.

• County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant admonished the board for violating rules of decorum by engaging in personal attacks.

The Will County Board on Thursday, March 19, 2026, descended into bitter infighting as Republican members demanded the resignation of a Democratic colleague over a misdemeanor computer tampering conviction.

During the member comments portion of the meeting, Member Steve Balich brought up a two-and-a-half-year-old incident in which Member Jacqueline Traynere accessed the county email account of Member Judy Ogalla.

“My email was hacked by Jackie Traynere by hacking into Judy Ogalla’s iPad,” Balich claimed. “Now that she’s convicted, I think that she should resign from the county board. And I don’t think we have rules that say it because it’s not a felony, it’s just a misdemeanor. But that misdemeanor is a serious misdemeanor.”

Member Mark V. Revis echoed the demand, stating that the public requires honesty and accountability.

“In recent weeks, a member of this board was convicted on two counts of computer tampering for signing into a fellow board member’s email account without permission,” Revis said. “This has caused significant damage to our credibility of this board… So, I am calling for Miss Jackie Traynere to resign immediately.”

Traynere fired back, defending her actions and stating that the specific charge regarding the sharing of an email had been dismissed. She claimed she accessed the account to prove a dangerous security rumor.

“I was testing that because I had heard a rumor that we all had the same email password. Miss Ogalla was very aware of that,” Traynere said. “Once I learned of this issue, I immediately contacted the County Executive’s office and the IT department. I consider what I did being a whistleblower.”

The back-and-forth prompted County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant to interject, reading directly from the board’s own rules of decorum. She reminded members that they are required to address the chair, avoid characterizing other members’ motives, and refrain from personal attacks.

“This is not a political forum in here,” Bertino-Tarrant said. “We’re here to legislate and do policy.”

Several members expressed deep frustration with the public spectacle. Member Julie Berkowicz stated that the trust in the board had been “fractured” and warned that the public views government officials as acting above the law.

Democratic Leader Sherry Williams and County Board Speaker Joe VanDuyne both apologized to the public for the display.

“The personal attacks in a public forum is absolutely uncalled for, and to be sitting here and witnessing what just happened once again is very embarrassing to the Will County Board and to the Will County residents,” VanDuyne said. “If you want to use your three minutes and your opportunity to drag somebody through the mud in a public comment, I have zero respect for you.”