The political fates of 566 candidates will be decided Tuesday–and that’s just in one county.
Bob Saar, the executive director of the DuPage County Election Commission, said 539 names will appear on ballots and 27 other candidates have declared write-in campaigns. In addition, voters will decide on a variety of referendum questions, including a plan to spend $75 million for new school space in Downers Grove.
Among the 240 races on the county ballot, a couple hold the possibility for the rarest of winners in DuPage–a Democrat.
In Kane County, 426 names will appear on ballots for a variety of posts, and there are 14 declared write-in candidates. Aurora voters will have to sort through 65 candidates on the ballot as well as 6 write-in candidates for 32 elected positions.
The winners will get to make some of the most mundane–and most vital–decisions in government, the kind that have a day-to-day impact on residents’ lives. They will be the mayors and the village presidents, the aldermen and village trustees, the people in charge of the parks and the library, and the folks to handle workings at the township level.
They will decide on garbage rates and snowplowing, library hours and recreational facilities, general assistance and home values.
As in most local elections, they are likely to be chosen by a fraction of the eligible voters.
In Kane County, Clerk Lorraine Sava is hoping the county can match the usual voter turnout of 30 percent to 35 percent, but she said absentee voting has been slow. Although there are several referendum issues, she said, there are no blockbuster ballot questions to draw voters to polling places. Saar is predicting a 28 percent to 29 percent voter turnout in DuPage County.
Republicans and Democrats will be watching the results in Bloomingdale Township, where a GOP spat could make supervisor candidate Rosanna Fitzpatrick DuPage’s most unusual Democrat–one who holds an elected office.
The last time a candidate listed officially on a ballot as a Democrat won was in 1989, when Mark Starkovich as chosen as supervisor in York Township after the township GOP got into internecine warfare that cost them the post. Four years later, the Republicans came to the polls united, and Starkovich was ousted.
This time, another feud gives the Democrats a glimmer of hope. Longtime Bloomingdale Township Supervisor William Kassal has mounted an independent bid for re-election after the Republican organization opted to endorse veteran County Board member Floyd Sanford (R-Medinah) for the supervisor’s post.
Incumbent mayors are targets for defeat in a number of communities.
One is in Warrenville, where Ald. Bob Siebert has made three-term Mayor Vivian Lund’s enthusiastic support of the massive Cantera development project a campaign issue.
Among the others are Oakbrook Terrace and Villa Park, where incumbents William Kallas and Rae Rupp Srch face rematches of their 1993 battles against Steve Caslin and Joyce Daly, respectively.
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In St. Charles, Alds. Sue Klinkhamer and Jim Martin have sparred on several fronts in their bid to succeed retiring five-term Mayor Fred Norris.
Martin wants to continue to follow the city’s comprehensive plan, but Klinkhamer has said the city is losing business to neighboring cities along the Fox River and must beef up development near Charlestowne Mall on the city’s east side and along Randall Road to the west.
In Aurora, the area’s largest city, Election Day suspense evaporated in February when three-term Aurora Mayor David Pierce withdrew after trailing former Police Chief David Stover in the February primary. The move virtually assured Stover’s election in his first bid for political office.
Meanwhile, four school districts in DuPage County are asking voters for money.
Downers Grove High School District 99 wants approval for a $75 million bond issue for a new school and renovation of two current buildings. A citizens group is calling the proposal a waste of taxpayer money for a problem it says could be fixed with far less cash.
Roselle’s Lake Park High School District 108 wants $6.5 million for a swimming pool, West Chicago Elementary School District 33 is making a second bid for an education fund tax increase to restore cuts in staff and programs, and Center Cass Elementary School District 66 wants an $11.9 million bond issue for a new building and classroom additions.
The owner of a $200,000 house in District 99 would pay $198 more in property taxes if residents approve a bond issue that would pay for a new $54.3 million Woodridge high school and $20.7 million for renovations at Downers Grove North and South High Schools to ease overcrowding and update archaic facilities.
Though the district and residents agree some measure is necessary, a citizens group said a new Woodridge high school is not needed because the enrollment and facilities issue can be solved at lower cost with additions and renovations to the existing schools.
Supt. David Eblen said no major renovations have been made at the two schools for 40 years.
West Chicago Elementary School District 33 is trying again for approval of an education fund tax increase of 48 cents for each $100 of equalized assessed valuation. In November, residents turned down a similar proposal. The owner of a $150,000 house would pay $240 more a year in taxes.
District 33 cut 44 teaching jobs, sports and extracurricular activities because of a budget squeeze. If the tax boost goes through, staff and programs would be restored.
Also making a second attempt in a referendum issue is Center Cass Elementary School District 66, with three schools in Downers Grove and Darien. It wants an $11.9 million bond issue for a new school for 3rd through 5th grades, and for additions to two other schools.
ELECTION DAY. TUESDAY, APRIL 1.
Voting for:
Mayors and village presidents, city and village trustees, park and library boards, township officials and referendum proposals.
Polls: Open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. For the location of your polling place or information about voting procedures in DuPage County, call 630-682-7440. In Kane County, call 630-232-5990.
What’s open: Federal offices and courts will be open, but state offices, Kane County offices and courts and DuPage County offices will be closed. DuPage courts will be open. Regular mail delivery. Banks open.
TV coverage: Begins at 7 p.m. on cable channel CLTV.
Internet coverage: baiduhai Digital Cities Naperville site, (http://chicago.digitalcity.com/naperville/); Kane County site, (http://www.mcs.net/kanedata/ballotsx.htm.)