The DeKalb County Board may have appeared as a house divided last month, but members hope to move forward and tackle the issues facing the county.

The Nov. 2 election resulted in a 12 to 12 split between Democrats and Republicans on the county board.

At the Dec. 6 meeting, the board compromised to split the chair of the board into two one-year terms.

The compromise fell apart and the 10 Republican board members present walked out of the meeting in protest.

On Dec. 15, the board approved an agreement to settle the leadership question.

The board chose Ruth Anne Tobias (D-DeKalb) as the first woman to chair the county board.

The final vote on the leadership deal went 14-10 with two Republican board members breaking ranks and voting for the agreement.

Board members Jeff Metzger (R-Sandwich) and John Gudmunson (R-Somonauk) voted for the leadership agreement.

“No one ever said the 12 to 12 board is going to be easy,” Metzger said. “I think we’ll definitely move past [partisan disagreement].”

He said the board was at a standstill and needed to move forward.

“It’s a good plan that is fair to all areas of the county,” Metzger said.

Metzger said he thought the previous plan had left out District 12, which he represents. He also said he did not think splitting the chair was effective leadership.

Board Vice Chairman Dennis Sands (R-Shabbona) said what happened on Dec. 15 amounted to one person dictating the outcome for the other 23.

Sands said the chair has now been split between three people through the last three years.

“We were all disappointed in the one Republican turning on us, and his reasons for doing it were purely personal,” Sands said.

Sands said he thought the plan scrapped on Dec. 6 would have been better for the whole county.

The agreement reached on Dec. 15 was bad government, Sands said. Both sides of the board felt they could move forward.

Tobias said she felt the disagreement the board had after the election was not going to be a problem. The board made a decision and will stick by it, she said.

“I look at that like the 4th of July fireworks: big splash, dramatic and now it’s the 5th,” board member Stephen Slack (D-Sycamore) said.

Sands said many board issues are not divided along a political line and the board does what is best for the county.

Metzger agreed the board could set partisan politics aside.

“I think we’ll definitely move past it,” he said. “If there are Republicans still unhappy, I’m sorry about that.”