Kevin Kern: Promises kept

There are still pockets of Divine Providence in government where good triumphs over politics and the world's circus is no longer run from the monkey cages?

We also know that where there is Kevin Kern, there is hope.

Kevin, age 39, leaves a 10 1/2-year career as Perry County Clerk on Friday (in three elections he has never lost a single precinct) and heads for an executive position in newly elected Congressman Bill Enyart's 12th District office.

After seven years as a newspaperman and 10 years as county clerk, he stands at the front window of public service on the federal level. Congressman Enyart has already passed through three careers as a member of the U.S. Air Force, a successful attorney and more recently Illinois Adjutant General. Enyart says this is yet another new beginning for him, as well. He won election in November and is already planning to seek re-election in 2014. All 435 seats are involved.

12th Congressional district longevity for a Democrat is akin to Supreme Court job security.

By then, anyone in Bill Enyart's world will understand what Kevin is capable of in public service.

Kevin is one of the current Perry County officeholders who got us through our darkest financial hour in 2002.

"In 2002 we were living hand-to-mouth. The first week I was in office we were borrowed to the max. We have climbed out of it."

In fact, Perry County Treasurer Bill Taylor believes the county may get through the year without having to borrow.

"Democracy is not a spectator sport," said Kevin after going from polling place to polling place last Tuesday to personally thank judges for their service in the 18 elections he has overseen. He routinely puts personal notes in their paychecks. At his side was newly appointed county clerk Josh Gross, who Kevin believes will bring a seamless transition to the office.

"Josh is intellectually curious," Kevin said. He's a great fit for public service.

He adds that they didn't go to a polling place where Josh didn't already know almost everyone.

Kevin said his success is because of the people who bring so much to his office: Debbie Waller in accounts payable and taxes, Denise Bathon in recording and vital records, Mary Gerrish in elections and voter registration and Judy Hamilton, retired chief deputy, who continues to contribute to the work of the office as needed.

Then there are the 250 election judges--democrats and republicans--who have served during his tenure.

The College of Clerks numbers only 24 since the county was organized in 1827. "You walk in the footsteps of giants in this job," he said.

The longest-serving county clerk was republican Frank Keith from 1942 to 1970.

"The county officials have done a good job," he said. The fact that you run for election with a "D" or an "R" behind your name doesn't change your commitment to good public policy.

In quieter moments--and there are few--he loves pulling down bound record books to see what's there. In trying to make sense of damp and deteriorating records that officeholders found in the basement of the courthouse years ago Kevin came across the minutes from the very first Board of Commissioners meetings. He had each page encased in acid-free laminate and bound in leather. The three volumes sit on a small credenza behind his desk chair.

The 1828 minutes are the handwritten cradle of the county and he holds them sacred. "We need to have reverence," he says. "You take pride in our past and have a sense that you are only one in a long line of people who have served."

What were your challenges: The county's financial difficulties? The unit road district? The transition to electronic voting? Early voting? Redistricting?

"All that."

"We were the first county to offer off-site voting locations," he said, referring to early voting.

"Voting is now different because our lifestyles are different."

Red elephants and blue donkeys aside, there's a very worrisome apathy among us. We can allow our children to be shipped to Afghanistan or--God forbid. Korea--but we are too lazy to cross the street to vote.

Kern has found every conceivable way for someone to cast a ballot in a national, municipal or school board election in Perry County.

"If we see something that needs to be improved, it is incumbent upon us to improve it," he said. His is a life of service and promises kept.

That's why he was the recipient of the 2008 Illinois Clerks Association Clerk of the Year Award.

The Holy Grail of Perry County's paper records exist in the beautiful bound volumes that line the walls of his office.

But, it is now a digital office where even the rarest of records can be accessed through a computer. He says his staff works very hard at maintaining that digital presence.

Kevin admits to a short attention span and is exceptional at spinning all of the plates at one time. So, he spends a lot of time outside the statutory requirements of the office. "I spend a lot of time trying to help the county board."

"I have had the confidence of every board member." The name dropping begins with Danny Wildermuth when he began, to Bobby Kelly and Jim Epplin "who has been almost like a father to me" and Sam Robb. The trail seems to end at the late Jim Booker, one of the finest--and funniest--men he has ever known. They got more county business accomplished over MotoMart coffee in an hour in his office than most people get done in a week."

"The office is the hub of county government. It is the front door to government access. I love it."

No government office has all the answers. But, his staff gets you to the place that knows the answers. So do all of the other offices in the government building or the courthouse.

Congressman Enyart's 12th District office is located in the Bank of America building in downtown Belleville. Kevin's work will involve communicating between the congressman's office and the 12 counties and 700,000 constituents the federal government does business with.

"Life is about forward progress," he said. "For a small town boy in Perry County I have had two perfect jobs and I couldn't be more grateful."