Former city treasurer to make announcement about future plans Monday morning at Krazy Cakes

QUINCY — Linda Moore, former treasurer for the city of Quincy, has called a news conference for Monday morning.

However, she did not detail the topic of the announcement in a two-sentence media advisory emailed Saturday to local media outlets, which invited them to gather at 11 a.m. at Krazy Cakes Café and Restaurant, 512 Hampshire.

Moore, 64, retired as the city’s treasurer on Dec. 31. Her first day on the job was Sept. 11, 2017. The Adams County Democratic Central Committee recommended she serve the rest of Peggy Crim’s term. Crim announced her retirement in June 2017 after more than 16 years as treasurer.

When she retired, Moore said her immediate plans were to travel with her 89-year-old mother. Asked in December if becoming a candidate for mayor was a possibility, Moore said one word: “Potentially.”

“When Mom and I are done traveling, I’ll come back home and figure out what my next career move is,” she said. “Later this summer, I’ll make a decision.”

The Quincy City Council’s Finance Committee learned during Monday’s meeting at the Quincy Public Library that the city is close to settling all outstanding employee bills with Quincy Medical Group from 2022 and 2023.

Moore had been serving for the past several months as a consultant for the city, working to resolve issues with the city’s health insurance.

Moore, a 1981 Quincy College graduate, retired in 2016 from ESPN as senior director of business operations and planning. She held multiple roles with the sports network, managing departmental budgets for four business units in ESPN Enterprises totaling $10 million.

Moore said in December she was approached about running for mayor when she returned to Quincy in 2016.

“I hadn’t been back long enough, and I didn’t really know what the landscape was,” she said. “I didn’t really know if I’d be interested. Then (former Quincy Mayor Chuck) Scholz came to me and said, ‘Hey, we need somebody to replace Peggy Crim. Would you be interested in being the treasurer?’ 

“My first response was, ‘No, I’m not going into politics.’ Then my second response was, ‘Well, gosh, the financial end of things. That’s what I did for 20 years.’ That’s how I made a name for myself at ESPN because I turned a lot of bad projects good. Maybe I ought to think about this. At the time, I also was very bored being retired.”

Former alderman Dan Brink was the first person to declare his candidacy for Quincy mayor when he filed in October a Statement of Organization for a political committee with the Illinois State Board of Elections office in Springfield.

Mayor Mike Troup announced on March 11 his plans to run for a second term. Brink and Troup will face each other in the Republican primary on Feb. 25.

No Democrat has announced their intention to run for the office.