In an election race likely to provide some closure to two years of intense conflict on the Niles-Maine District Library Board, incumbents Becky Keane and Umair Qadeer, alongside newcomers Jason Trunco and Roberto Botello, have declared victory in the April 4 contest.
The elections cap a turbulent two years at the library that have seen near-constant deadlock among trustees, a 19-month hiring freeze that has resulted in a 37% reduction in staff, protests and rallies, a leaking roof and trustees shouting and accusing one another of lying during meetings. The deadlock prompted state lawmakers to pass legislation to allow the Secretary of State to appoint a library board member if a board itself could not achieve that goal.
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Trunco took 49% of the vote in a three-way race for a four-year term, while Keane and Qadeer captured 39% and 28%, respectively, in a four-way race for six-year terms, per unofficial results. Botello took 67% of the vote in a two-way race for a two-year term on the board, unofficial results show.
Keane, Botello, Trunco and Qadeer ran a joint campaign dubbed “Reclaim Our Library.” Their message centered on more respect for staff than has been afforded to them under the current board, as well as fixes and maintenance for the physical building, including roof repair.
Trunco told Pioneer Press the group was declaring victory and looked ahead to bolstering library services and programming.
Keane said she was “happy to see that the community is indeed interested in having a library that offers a multitude of services and is truly a center of the community.”
Keane said she planned to work with Board President Carolyn Drblik and Secretary Suzanne Schoenfeldt, with whom she, Board Vice President Patti Rozanski and Board Member Dianne Olson often disagreed bitterly, “the same way I will work with everyone else.” Drblik and Schoenfeldt aligned themselves on the board with Treasurer Joe Makula, who did not win reelection.
Keane said her first priority in the new term would be “to see a union contract that is beneficial for both the library and the staff.”
In a statement emailed to Pioneer Press, Qadeer thanked the group’s supporters and said he was “both humbled and honored to be given the opportunity to continue to serve the residents of our library district.”
“I look forward to working with the rest of the new board to figure out how to fix the problems currently facing our library,” Qadeer said.
Botello was not immediately available for comment.
Trunco commented, “We look forward to not only getting our library back where it should be but getting it even better than it was before. While some of our opponents went a route of dirty politics, we kept it clean and we are very proud that we did.”
Trunco’s candidacy survived a challenge in January that argued his history with the law disqualified him from the ballot.
The campaign of the four candidates, backed by Niles Mayor George Alpogianis and supported by some local Democratic elected officials, was the nexus of sustained organizing efforts from the local activist group Niles Coalition and its sub-campaign, Save Niles Library.
Independent candidate and marketing director Mike Movido ran on a similar platform to that of the slate, emphasizing his frequent patronage of the library with his family.
Candidates Irina Byalaya, Steve Yasell and Steve Folga campaigned alongside Makula. At debates, Folga said that the library needed to improve its multilingual offerings and Makula stated his frequently-repeated position that library use is on the downswing and that modern readers are more likely to get their books, DVDs and other materials from internet sellers or streaming services.
The board spent much of the last two years in a 3-3 split following the resignation of former Trustee Olivia Hanusiak in September 2021.
Keane, Rozanski and Olson strongly opposed attempts by Makula, Drblik and Schoenfeldt to cut or reduce the library’s spending on roof maintenance, building cleaning and other items.
Some of the board’s deepest moments of division came during discussions of the hiring freeze, which Hanusiak helped to implement in her three months on the board.
In the 19 months the freeze was in effect, 37% of staff left the institution and were not replaced, according to previous reporting.
Former Secretary of State Jesse White appointed Umair Qadeer to Hanusiak’s vacant seat after the remaining board members were unable to agree on a replacement for more than a year.
The law that allowed White to make the appointment passed the Illinois General Assembly in May 2022. White initially attempted to appoint Qadeer in September 2022 under the provisions of the law.
Hours before Qadeer was set to be sworn in, an emergency restraining order initiated by Makula against White blocked Qadeer’s appointment until December, after legislators passed a clarifying measure that declawed Makula’s restraining order.
Qadeer was sworn in Dec. 21 and joined with Keane, Rozanski and Olson just days later to vote to lift the hiring freeze.