Incumbent Valley View School District board member Leonel Venegas was disqualified this week from seeking another term in April’s election after a Will County election board ruled that his candidacy paperwork was not valid.
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The ruling to remove Venegas from the ballot was made by County Clerk Nancy Schultz Voots, Circuit Clerk Pamela McGuire and a representative from the state’s attorney’s office after Bolingbrook resident Mir Ali filed an objection Dec. 30 to Venegas’ nomination paperwork.
Voots said Tuesday that the election board will formally sign off on the decision Friday, and Venegas will have five days after that to appeal.
Ali alleges in his objection that Venegas failed to gather the required 50 signatures of voters eligible to cast a ballot for Valley View candidates.
Venegas’ nomination papers claim to contain 60 signatures, but the nomination papers “contain the names of persons who did not sign said papers in their own proper persons, and said signatures are not genuine and are forgeries,” the objection states.
Venegas, who was first elected to the board in 2011, said in an email Monday that he had not been informed of the board’s decision. He did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Ali could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Ali also stated in his objection that Venegas’ nomination papers contain the names of people not registered to vote at the addresses next to their names and that the paperwork contains the names of people who do not reside within Valley View’s boundaries.
The nomination papers also contains petition sheets with the ” ‘signatures’ of persons which are not signed but are rather printed, and said ‘signatures’ are not genuine signatures,” Ali’s objection states.
In all, Venegas’ nomination papers contain less than 50 “validly collected signatures of qualified and duly registered legal voters of the Valley View Community Unit School District 365U, signed by such voters in their own proper person with proper addresses, far below the number required under Illinois law.”
Three Valley View seats will be up for grabs in the April 7 election.
School Board President Steven Quigley has filed his candidacy paperwork, as have Bolingbrook resident Diane Parro and Romeoville residents Sally Guilbo and James Boudouris, according to the Will County clerk’s office.
Vice President Richard Gougis is not seeking re-election and said he’d prefer to spend more time with his family.
New blood is good for the school board, he said.
“I think I served well,” Gougis said. “I hope the people think I served well.”
In Plainfield School District 202, four candidates will also vie for three seats.
President Roger Bonuchi is not seeking re-election, but incumbents Greg Nichols and Kevin Kirberg will square off against candidates Heather Drake and Sharlyne Williams, both of Plainfield, according to county records and district officials.
Village races
In Romeoville, Trustees Linda Palmiter, Kenneth Griffin and Sue Micklevitz are all running unopposed, according to village records.
In Bolingbrook, incumbent Trustees Leroy Brown, Ricardo Morales and Patricia Schanks will be in the running along with newcomer Robert Jaskiewicz for three seats, according to village records.
In Plainfield, three village board seats will be up for grabs, including the seat now occupied by Trustee Paul Fay, who will not seek re-election.
Trustee Bill Lamb will seek re-election, and the vacant seat of former Trustee Dan Rippy, who won a Will County judgeship in November’s election, also will be in play.
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Other candidates include Mark Allan Chmura, John Gregory Green, Edward O’Rourke, Brian Wojowski and Michael Lambert.
Fay said he is finishing up his third term, but will remain active within the community.
“I believe in term limits,” he said in an email Monday. “Plainfield has many good residents who would like to be more active in their government.”