Registered nurse Marryann Warda, 24, is planning to run for a trustee seat on the Niles Village Board in next spring’s election.
Warda, who moved to Niles in January after growing up in Skokie,works at Oliver McCracken Middle School, which she attended, as a school nurse.
Plans call for her to run as the third candidate on the Vision of Niles slate, which is otherwise comprised of incumbent trustees Craig Niedermaier and Dean Strzelecki. The seat for which she is running was vacated by former Trustee Denise McCreery in October 2021.
So far, no opposition to the slate has emerged, the candidates said, though it is still early.
Warda is a good friend of Mayor George Alpogianis’ daughter Kiki, she said. Warda said she and Mayor Alpogianis had several conversations before she consulted with Strzelecki and Niedermaier as a potential member of their slate.
“I thought it was very important to get involved with the politics locally,” Warda said. “Politics plays a huge role in our day-to-day lives as we’re seeing every single day now.”
She said she does not yet have a defined platform but said she is looking forward to engaging with voters to determine her key priorities.
“I’m still learning a lot about the people of Niles,” she said. “When I go door to door, that is exactly when I’m going to be able to decide and be able to speak with the community members and decide what the actual voters think is a issue.”
“I’m not the type of person that likes to talk without knowing too much about something,” Warda added.
This is Warda’s first political campaign, but she said she has been involved with voter registration through Vote Assyrian, a group that aims to promote political involvement among Assyrian-Americans.
Alpogianis said he hopes Warda’s candidacy will “bring in the diversity and the youth” to the village board.
“We have a 24-year-old woman who wants to get involved in politics—how great is that?” he said. “How great is it that the youth is stepping up and saying ‘we want to help’?”
Niedermaier agreed, adding that they also “felt it was important” to have another woman join the board along with “ethnic representation, so that you don’t just look like a bunch of old white guys up there.”
The petition filing period opens Dec. 12 and closes Dec. 19 per information from Niles Village Clerk Marlene Victorine.