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Elgin picks four finalists for council seat

Four candidates were selected to be interviewed next week to fill a vacant seat on the Elgin City Council.

Mitchell Esterino, Mohammad "Mo" Iqbal, Rosamaria Martinez and Aaron Sellers were selected among 21 applicants in executive session during a special committee of the whole meeting Wednesday, Councilman John Prigge said.

Councilman Rich Dunne confirmed the four were selected to go through in-person interviews, again in closed session, during a special committee of the whole meeting next Wednesday.

In the meantime, the city's legal staff will vet them to ensure they meet eligibility criteria, Prigge said.

Esterino, who ran for a seat on the council in 2013, works for the Visiting Nurses Association in Elgin as a patient navigator for the Affordable Care Act. He previously worked part time as a recreation building supervisor in Elgin.

Iqbal is a retired attorney who works pro bono for several nonprofits. He serves as director of the Gail Borden Public Library Foundation and is a past chairman of the city's human relations commission.

Martinez is a past commander of American Legion Post 57 in Elgin who works in the transportation department of Elgin Area School District U-46. She retired from working for the U.S. Postal Service in 2013.

Sellers, a board member for the Ecker Center for Mental Health, works as a senior training consultant for Comprehensive Training Solutions in Elgin.

Council members were asked to submit their top three picks among the 21 candidates, and the four selected were the top vote-getters, Prigge said.

Prigge, who says the seat doesn't needs to be filled until the April election, said he didn't submit any names. He declined to say which names were submitted - if any - by other council members.

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