This election season, choices were made for voters in Franklin Park and Northlake before residents ever got to the polls.
At the end of 2014 in Franklin Park, there were six people registered to run for three seats on the Village Board. Incumbents William Ruhl and Cheryl McLean, along with James Caporusso, registered to run under the Progress for Leadership Party.
Also registered were Ken Zurek, a frequent critic of village policies and village officials; Chris Litwin, who had previously run for village president; and Vicki Vanderhei. Randall Petersen, a village trustee who is not running for reelection, filed objections against Zurek, Litwin and Vanderhei alleging that signature sheets circulated by those three candidates did not include the dates those signatures were gathered.
A local electoral board originally composed of Village President Barrett Pedersen, Village Trustee John Johnson and Village Clerk Tommy Thomson were scheduled to consider the objections. The campaign committee Friends of Barrett Pedersen had contributed money to the Progress for Leadership Party, and both Pedersen and Johnson chose to step down from the board to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Thomson was replaced by the circuit court.
But a new electoral board appointed by the Cook County Court, however, still sustained Petersen’s objection.
Many of the same players were involved with proposed referendums in Franklin Park. At one time, six referendum questions had been submitted for inclusion on the April 7 ballot, including three on term limits. According to Cook County ordinance, no more than three referendum questions can be placed on any given ballot.
Zurek submitted a referendum proposing eight-year term limits. Litwin submitted a slightly reworded term limits referendum limiting officials to two terms, along with a referendum to eliminate salaries and benefits for elected officials.
Village trustees submitted three of their own referendums in November. Two are advisory, asking whether residents favor quiet zones at train crossings and quiet periods for planes from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Trustees also submitted their own referendum on term limits — albeit one that limits elected officials to four terms in office, not including time already served.
Randall Petersen and village resident Robert Godlewski filed objections to Zurek’s term limits referendum. A local electoral board appointed by the Cook County Court overruled most of the objections but sustained two, enough to knock it off the ballot. The other two referendum questions by Litwin were submitted after the ballot was full.
In Northlake, it originally appeared as if the most competitive race would be for the board of the Northlake Public Library. Nine people had originally registered to run for six open seats, a rarity for a board that has had seats go empty for months at a time. Three of those candidates were incumbents Maureen Sydor, Renee Wright and Aracely Gutierrez.
Six newcomers decided to run as well. While the newcomers are running as independents, they all registered to run for office together. They are Elizabeth Biddle, Diane Sampson, Toni Glowinski, Jesus Herrera, Joseph R. Klinger and Judith M. Wason.
Challenges were filed against the three incumbents, knocking Sydor and Wright from the ballot. A challenge against Gutierrez was dropped.
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After the election, the newcomers will find themselves with five or six of the seats on the seven-person library board — a solid majority.
The other local elections will be quiet affairs, with no contested races for Northlake City Council, boards of education in Leyden, Franklin Park or Mannheim districts, Franklin Park Library or park district of Franklin Park.