A member of the Niles-Maine District Library Board who was appointed last October to serve out a term expiring in May has stepped down due to a residency issue, the library announced.
Umair Abdul Qadeer, a resident of unincorporated Maine Township, resigned last week — the day after another library trustee pointed out a state statute requiring library trustees to live in the district at least one year before running for office or being appointed to office.
The statute was shared by Trustee Carolyn Drblik during the “other business” portion of the library board’s Feb. 17 meeting. Drblik asked if all seated trustees were in compliance with this law, and Qadeer responded that he was not, as he had not lived in the district for at least one year prior to his appointment.
Qadeer, whose appointment was approved by the board in October, said he was unaware of the one-year residency requirement and he had not been informed of it when he applied to fill the vacancy on the board.
“If you remember, I made it very clear at that time that I had just recently moved to the library district,” Qadeer said on Feb. 17.
In a statement, the library referred to the residency requirement as “new” and “added in 2018.”
Qadeer, who was appointed to fill a vacancy created when Trustee Tim Spadoni moved out of the library district, had previously served on the Des Plaines Public Library Board, the Niles-Maine Library District said.
Becky Keane-Adams was also appointed to the board in October to fill a second vacancy.
Others who applied to fill the two board seats were Thomas Byrne, Rosann Parra, Chiman Patel, Megan Roberts, Jason Trunco, Laura Beth Wolfe, and Steven Yasell.
Qadeer’s seat on the board will not be filled by a new appointment due to the short period of time before the April 6 election, the library said in a statement.
Five candidates will appear on the ballot for three, six-year terms on the library board in April. They are Becky Keane Adams, Steve Folga, Olivia Hanusiak, Patti Rozanski and Suzanne Schoenfeldt.
Two candidates are running for one, two-year term. They are Joe Makula and John “Jack” Ryan.
Angelica Schab is listed as an official write-in candidate for a six-year term, according to the Cook County Clerk’s Office.
The Niles-Maine Library District includes the village of Niles and unincorporated areas of Maine Township.