The incumbent alderman in Park Ridge’s 6th Ward is challenging the validity of his opponent’s nomination papers.
The Park Ridge Electoral Board met Friday morning to review the objection petition filed by Ald. Marc Mazzuca to 6th Ward candidate Patrick DeStefano’s nomination papers. As part of the objection, Mazzuca requested the electoral board find that DeStefano is ineligible to appear on the April 4 ballot.
The electoral board is comprised of Park Ridge Mayor Marty Maloney, City Clerk Betty Henneman and 4th Ward Ald. Roger Shubert.
Mazzuca, a Park Ridge native who has held the 6th Ward post since 2012, challenged the validity of 22 signatures out of the 67 included in DeStefano’s nomination papers, according to Mazzuca’s objection petition filed Dec. 26. Candidates for the aldermanic seat are required to file at least 67 signatures from “duly qualified, registered and legal voters of the 6th Ward” to get their name on the ballot, according to the objection.
Mazzuca’s petition states that DeStefano’s nomination papers appear to contain signatures from individuals “who are not registered voters, or who are not registered voters at the addresses shown opposite their respective signature,” names of individuals “who either did not sign the papers or who did not sign the papers in their own proper persons” and signatures “for persons for whom the addresses given are either missing entirely, incorrect, incomplete or illegible.”
The petition also challenges DeStefano’s notarized statement of candidacy because the year included in the date on the document was scratched out and another year written above it.
City Attorney Julie Tappendorf requested the meeting be continued to Jan. 9 at 8 a.m. to allow time for Cook County attorneys and staff members at the Cook County Clerk’s Office to conduct an examination of the 22 signatures in question. She said the continuance date is subject to change depending on when an examination is scheduled.
Tappendorf said the county clerk’s office will make a determination as to whether the signatures are valid by comparing them to county voter registration records. Tappendorf said no members of the electoral board will be present at the county’s review of the records but advised both Mazzuca and DeStefano to attend.
“We have to move very quickly because the ballot has to be certified,” she said. In an interview following the meeting, Tappendorf said the ballot needs to be certified by sometime in early February.
The electoral board will rule on the objection to the signatures and the notarized statement of candidacy following the examination of the signatures, she said.
DeStefano, who has lived in Park Ridge for the last four years, has not previously served on any city boards, commissions or committees. He is president and general manager of his family’s restaurant, Mr. Beef and Pizza, located in Chicago’s Northwest Side, and works in investing and day trading.
DeStefano previously told Pioneer Press that he had chosen to run against the incumbent alderman because “I’ve been here for four years, and nothing really changes.” He said his candidacy was “a last-minute” idea inspired by the frustration expressed by those in his neighborhood that the area was not selected for soundproofing through the O’Hare Residential Sound Insulation Program.
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Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter. Jennifer Johnson contributed to this report.