West Central Reporter

The April 6 election is proving to be a busy time for Chris Hicks.

Hicks, a Republican committeeman, is running for Sawyerville village president as well as a spot on the Gillespie School Board, where he faces three incumbents in a pick-three race that is nonpartisan.

Hicks’ run for village president marks the first time a Republican Party candidate has been on the ballot in Sawyerville, with Hicks winning the nomination via a caucus vote held in December. Hicks later filed a lawsuit against the village, alleging that officials did not follow electoral laws and did not grant him a hearing on the alleged violations.

Hicks has already taken on the job of speaking out on some of the state’s most pressing issues, recently weighing in on the recent problems plaguing the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES).

“It is disheartening to see no help available to those who need it the most,” Hicks told the West Central Reporter of reports some of those hardest hit financially by the impact of COVID-19 are now encountering difficulties getting through to the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES), which handles unemployment claims for suddenly out-of-work residents. “There is no excuse for these locations being closed.”

State lawmakers say some of their constituents have shown signs of severe depression and even suicidal thoughts due to the frustrations of not getting through to IDES as savings and prospects dwindle.

Hicks said  the restrictions and mitigations put in place by Gov. J.B. Pritzker have now become as big a problem as the virus itself.”

Of the jobs lost in the state over the last year, IDES reported that at least 216,000 have come in the leisure and hospitality industry.