Glen Ellyn voters April 7 returned incumbent trustee Pete Ladesic to what might be an unprecedented third-term to the village Board of Trustees.
Ladesic, 53, said he was thrilled voters are giving him another term on the board. It is uncommon for trustees to run for re-election in Glen Ellyn, and Ladesic said he believes he is the first trustee to be granted a third term by voters.
“I’ve been working hard on things for the last eight years, and I want to see them come to fruition during this next term,” said Ladesic, a property developer.
Key issues facing the incoming board include development of the village’s historic downtown, including the redevelopment of the former Giesche Shoe store site into a combination residential and commercial project. Ladesic said some potential economic development projects also are in preliminary stages.
Ladesic did not win the support of the village’s Civic Betterment Party at a town hall meeting in December and bucked the trend of party-backed candidates winning the consolidated election.
In unofficial results, Ladesic garnered more than 27 percent of the vote, the most of the four candidates vying for the three seats on the board. The next top vote-getter was John Kenwood, current board president of the District 41 school board, with almost 26 percent of the votes.
Mark N. Senak and Carol Fontana followed with a slim margin of 23.59 percent to 23.54 percent – only five votes.
In races so close, a candidate can file a petition of discovery with the DuPage County Election Commission to review a percentage of votes cast in up to 25 percent of the precincts involved, said Bob Saar, executive director of the election commission. They must do so within 10 days of the final canvass, set for April 27, he added. Provisional and absentee ballots also are yet to be counted.
Both Senak and Fontana said they were thankful for the residents who supported their candidacies.
Fontana said she was planning to wait to see the final tally before opting for any sort of action.
“I have faith in the process,” she said.
Senak said he also was waiting for the final tally, but in the meantime, would meet with outgoing trustees to “get up to speed” on the issues coming before the board, including electric aggregation.
Kenwood did not return calls.
Glen Ellyn School District 41
In Glen Ellyn School District 41, unofficial election results show Stephanie Clark, Kurt Buchholz and incumbent Erica Nelson taking the three open seats on the board.
Clark took 16.88 percent of the vote, Buchholz with 16.64 percent, and Nelson with 16.35 percent. Following the three frontrunners is former PTA president at Hadley Jr. High Lori Taylor with 14.96 percent, DuPage West Regional PTA Director Kristin Massey with 14.86 percent, Kevin Rath with 11.74 percent and Jeffrey Cooper with 8.57 percent.
Clark and Buchholz ran as a slate along with Kevin Rath. In a joint statement, the candidates thanked the voters for their support.
“Although our complete slate was not elected, we look forward to having a voice on the BOE, and encourage the community to stay involved and informed on BOE activities,” they said in the statement.
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Nelson, who will begin her third term, said she was privileged voters returned her to the board.
One of the key issues facing District 41 in the coming year is full-day kindergarten. Implementing a full-day program is a goal of the administration, but how to pay for it will be a decision for the next board.
Glenbard School District 87
In the six-way race for three spots on the Glenbard Township High School District 87 Board of Education, unofficial vote totals show Margaret A. DeLaRosa topping the list, with incumbent Mary Ozog and Martha Mueller taking the other two seats.
DeLaRosa garnered 22.99 percent of the vote, Ozog with 21.98 percent and Mueller with 18.44 percent. Incumbent Tom Trefilek followed with 15.44 percent, Brian E. Loftus with 15.31 percent and L.J. Spasovski with 5.83 percent. Rose Malcolm, the board’s vice president whose term is expiring, did not seek re-election.
DeLaRosa said she was thrilled to have received more votes than the two incumbents on the ballot. She said she was looking forward to “getting up to speed” on the board’s business.
“I’m anxious to come together as a board and begin the process,” DeLaRosa said.
Ozog, who was re-elected to her second term on the board, said she wants to continue to work to “protect the district’s fiscal solvency.” District 87 is part of a small percentage of Illinois school districts operating in the black, she said.
Mueller did not return calls.
In addition to maintaining the district’s financial bottom line, the board will begin negotiating new teacher contracts in 2017.
Alex Keown is a freelance reporter for baiduhai.
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