Four file for Naperville's mayor seat in spring election
Four candidates, including two sitting city council members, filed nominating petitions Monday in Naperville to seek the mayoral seat being vacated by the retiring George Pradel.
Fifteen others filed petitions to seek eight available seats on the city council during the first day of the filing period for the spring election.
If any more candidates file for the mayor's post before the Nov. 24 deadline, it will trigger the need for a primary election on Feb. 24. No more than four candidates for any single municipal post can appear on the ballot in the city's April 7 general election.
The mayoral candidates who filed Monday are council members Steve Chirico and Doug Krause; James Haselhorst, a dental office manager; and Marty Walker, a retired firefighter and official with the Naperville Exchange Club (who had a surrogate submit his petitions).
The mayoral candidates all said they want to help the city.
"I moved here seven years ago from another community and absolutely fell in love with this community and it's absolutely changed my life," Walker, 62, said earlier this fall. "I thought this is the perfect opportunity to step up and take on the next challenge in my life."
"I believe the person that fills the mayor's office needs to be someone who cares about the community and is involved in the community," said Haselhorst, 54. "I wanted to make sure there was at least one candidate in the race who was in it for the community and not for their own political ambitions."
Two other possible candidates for mayor - Ed Wilkins and an anonymous hopeful - have picked up the necessary paperwork but have not yet filed.
Neither Chirico nor Krause will be able to return to his city council seat if he loses the mayoral race because all eight spots on the council also are up for election in the spring.
Chirico, 54, owner of Great Western Flooring, said he has the financial and governmental knowledge to lead the city.
"I've been a consistent economic development person; I believe strong business policy is important for a community," Chirico said.
Krause, a 66-year-old real estate agent, has been on the council since 1989. He has run for mayor four other times, but said his longevity on the council could prove significant with the potential for so much change in the city's elected leadership.
"There's a learning curve regardless of what position you're in to learn the job, and I think it's important to have strong leadership in there that has the experience," he said.
The four mayoral candidates and 14 council candidates who filed at 9 a.m. Monday will be entered into separate lotteries to determine whose name will be placed first on the ballot for each position. Naperville City Clerk Pam LeFeber said the lotteries will take place the first week in December, after the end of the period for challenges to be made to candidate nominating petitions.
Those who filed petitions first thing Monday to run for city council include Patricia Gustin, Robert Hajek, Paul Hinterlong, Dick Furstenau, Wayne Floegel, John Krummen, David Wentz, Judith Brodhead, Harry Thomas O'Hale, Nancy J. Marinello, Bill Eagan, Kevin Coyne, James "Jimmy" Bergeron and Joseph McElroy.
Hinterlong, Wentz, Brodhead and McElroy are incumbents, while Furstenau is a former council member. Gustin and Coyne are planning and zoning commission members, while Eagan sits on the Naperville park board.
The 15th candidate, who will not be in the lottery for the top spot because he filed his petitions around 10:15 a.m., is John J. Colletti.
The filing period for the spring municipal election continues until 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24, at the Naperville municipal center.