Springfield budget director Bill McCarty enters 2023 race for city treasurer
Saying Springfield's financial reserves are in the best place they have ever been, city budget director Bill McCarty entered the race for city treasurer Monday.
McCarty, who has been budget director since 2011, will have some company in the nonpartisan April 4, 2023, election.
Deputy treasurer Colleen Redpath Feger and Springfield Park District trustee Lisa Badger made earlier announcements about seeking the office.
What to know on Springfield's yard waste drop-off, pick-up programs. Pumpkin smash returns
Treasurer Misty Buscher launched a bid challenging incumbent Jim Langfelder for the mayor's office earlier this summer.
Petitions can be filed beginning Nov. 21.
McCarty, 47, said the decision was a rare opportunity he didn't want to pass up.
"I'm doing it because I love being in local government," he said. "It's been great to work for the citizens of Springfield as a staff member, but there's nothing that beats being directly accountable to the voters, to the people you work for, without any intermediary in between.
"It also offers me an opportunity to protect the work that we've done. We've rebuilt city finances. The knowledge I have of the city budget inside and out puts me in a unique position to be in a place of protecting taxpayer dollars."
McCarty acknowledged the city's $54 million fund balance -- it was $2 million when he took over as budget director -- was "a team effort," praising the budget office staff, Langfelder and former Mayor Mike Houston for their oversight.
McCarty ran for mayor in 2011 but placed sixth in the primary. Houston, who previously served as mayor from 1979 to 1987, won the election.
"I learned so much about city government from (Houston), and I really think that is going to help me as I move forward in my career," McCarty said.
Houston attended the announcement at Fulgenzi’s Pizza and Pasta. Houston said he wanted the day to belong to McCarty so he wouldn't say if his attendance was a sign of an endorsement.
The restaurant's owner, Ward 4 Ald. John Fulgenzi, said he was endorsing McCarty.
"His credentials are impeccable," said Fulgenzi of McCarty, following the announcement. Fulgenzi is not seeking reelection to city council in 2023.
McCarty last ran in 2018 for Sangamon County treasurer. He lost in the Republican primary to Joe Aiello, who was making a comeback bid after serving as county clerk for 22 years.
McCarty served as mayor of Williamsville from 2005 to 2009 and was a village trustee for a previous three years.
He spent eight years working in state government as a chief financial officer for the Central Management Services' office of property management and as an analyst in the CMS budget office and the governor’s officeof management and budget.
The Sacred Heart-Griffin High School graduate has a master's degree from the University of Illinois Springfield, a bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame and an associate degree from Lincoln Land Community College.
McCarty and his wife, Penny, have two children.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield budget director launches election bid for city treasurer
