The Cass County Board had one member resign last night. Josh Millard, the second youngest board member ever to be elected to the board, turned in his resignation at the board meeting last night at the Cass County Courthouse. Millard says that a job opportunity and a personal matter drew him back to Washington D.C.. Millard said he had interned there in 2017 and met his current girlfriend before returning to Arenzville in 2018. “I never envisioned this day would come when I got elected in November 2018. My girlfriend and I had a discussion about whether she would move to Illinois or I would move to Washington D.C. We thought it best for both of our careers for me to move to Washington D.C. Subsequent to that, I accepted a position on Capitol Hill working for the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee. Ag policy is something that I am really passionate about and it was simply an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”
Millard says he is happy with the work that he’s done in his short time on the board, including fulfilling a campaign promise of giving Cass County a website. “It was something that I wanted to do even before joining the board. It was something I campaigned on knocking on doors and going through parades. I’m very grateful for Chairman Michael Barnett letting me take the lead on it, and was happy to see it go live in December. Up to then, we were one of four counties in the state that didn’t have a website. I am glad I was able to help bring Cass County more into the 21st Century.” The website can be found at https://co.cass.il.us/.
Millard said the resignation was bittersweet, but hopes that his election to the board will provide inspiration for other young people to get involved with their local government and make things happen in Cass County and the area.
The Republican and Democrat parties of Cass County will next submit nominees to fulfill the remaining two years of Millard’s term in the coming month. From those nominees, the board will select an appointee to fulfill the term.