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Lentz, Abernathy, Kim, Semple win in Mundelein

After four years as a Mundelein trustee, Steve Lentz will move to the mayor’s chair.

Lentz defeated rivals Wally Frasier and Robin Meier on Tuesday for the post.

With ballots in all 21 precincts counted, unofficial results showed Lentz ahead with 1,487 votes. Frasier, a longtime park board member and former local police chief, finished second with 1,346 votes.

Meier, a trustee who now will leave the board, finished a distant third with 596 votes.

Incumbent Kenneth H. Kessler didn’t run for a third term.

In a telephone interview, Lentz congratulated his rivals for what he called one of the town’s most spirited campaigns.

“It shows that people care,” said Lentz, a director of education and research for OptionVue Systems International, a Libertyville firm.

Mundelein voters also elected three trustees Tuesday.

Newcomers Dawn Abernathy and Holly Kim and incumbent Ray Semple won 4-year terms.

They defeated veteran incumbent Jim Nutschnig and newcomers Kerry Garesche, Alexander Kvasnicka and Gregory S. Jacobs.

Abernathy topped the field with 1,796 votes. Kim was second with 1,695 votes and Semple placed third, receiving 1,592 votes.

As for the others: Nutschnig had 1,433 votes; Garesche had 1,002 votes; Kvasnicka had 999 votes; and Jacobs had 559 votes.

Lentz, Semple, Nutschnig and Garesche ran as part of the Pro Mundelein slate. The other candidates were independent.

Kim, a first-time candidate whose face was plastered on yard signs across the village, celebrated Tuesday night.

“It’s a great indicator that the community wants change and new ideas,” said Kim, a 32-year-old manager of marketing and communications for a health care association.

Filling vacant storefronts and attracting new businesses was a key issue in the campaign. So was the downtown redevelopment plan, which includes construction of a new village hall on Hawley Street.

Lentz said he’s looking forward to meeting with the new trustees “to see where they’re coming from.”

Katy Timmerman, who also was part of the Pro Mundelein slate, was the lone clerk candidate and won.

Raymond Semple
Dawn Abernathy
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