Voters Tuesday will see for the first time a contest for the five seats on the New Lenox Fire Protection District Board.
The selection process was changed from appointment to election last year.
Incumbents seeking re-election are Board President Ralph Wilkosz and members Frank Riesbeck, Tom Turechek, George Hedke and George Yanak.
Challengers, who criticized the incumbents’ management, are Bob Fronek, formerly deputy chief of the firefighters, Glen Krohn, George Repiscak and Rantz Bally.
More Top Picks Best Ankle Support Shoes Under 100
Turechek defended the appointed board’s record at a candidates forum earlier this month in New Lenox, noting 2,750 calls for service in the last year, including more than 1,600 emergencies. Surveys have indicated people who call on the New Lenox Fire District for help are satisfied with the response, he said.
Discussions on a proposal to share a fire station with the Frankfort Fire Department are under way, he said.
Yanak, a recent appointee who is also an emergency medical technician, said the district will probably have to expand to serve the 43 subdivisions either under construction or in the planning stages in New Lenox.
Hedke, a board member for 16 years, credited the appointed board members with successfully managing “explosive growth,” while maintaining fiscal responsibility. The Fire Board followed competitive bidding practices, he said.
Fronek proposed management changes, including more effort to attract local contractors to work on projects, more use of paid-on-call firefighters and a commitment to build any additional fire station in New Lenox, rather than Frankfort Township.