John F. Sweeney appointed to replace Jas Bilich on Winnebago County Board

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A former Winnebago County Board member and Republican majority leader is returning to the board he served on for roughly a decade.

John F. Sweeney was selected by Republican precinct committeemen to replace Jas Bilich as the District 20 representative on the Winnebago County Board. Board members voted unanimously Thursday to appoint him to the board.

“We teach our kids that America is the greatest country the world has ever known, they should be proud to be Americans, they’re lucky to be born here,” Sweeney said of he and his wife, Stacie. “We teach them that the police are the good guys and not the bad guys, and that personal and economic freedoms are worth fighting for.”

“Every vote I take will be scene through prisms of issues like that and ones like it, so no one should be surprised.”

Sweeney, a real estate broker with Gambino Realtors, served on the board from 2006 to 2016, when he was narrowly defeated in the Republican primary by County Board member Jean Crosby.

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Sweeney previously served as the Republican majority leader and caucus chair, being selected by his colleagues for the dual roles when he was 29 and the second youngest County Board member at the time.

“I’m still a thin guy, but now my hair is also a little thin,” Sweeney, now 38, joked to board members Thursday after being sworn in.

Bilich, who served on the board since December 2018, resigned in mid-January to take on a role working for the county as a special project coordinator.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas.