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Elgin mayor draws challenger, 11 file for city council

Elgin Mayor David Kaptain is facing a challenger in the April election, in which 11 city council hopefuls also are vying for four open seats.

Joseph Galvan submitted his nominating petitions for mayor on Monday, the last day to file for the April 7 election.

Incumbents John Steffen, Tish Powell, Rose Martinez and Toby Shaw - and challengers Kyle Scifert, Julie Schmidt, Jason Dusenberry, Fred Moulton, Mohammad "Mo" Iqbal, Jaime Hjelm and Andrew Cuming - filed nominating petitions for council city council seats.

That means there will be no primary election, which would have taken place with more than 16 candidates.

Galvan, principal of Galvan & Associates information technology services in Hinsdale, leads the firm's housing and development practice.

"I've raised my family in Elgin. I love this city, and so, encouraged by family and friends, I have decided to run for Mayor. I want to spend my time continuing to make this great city an even better place to live," Galvan said in a prepared statement.

He is a past regional director for the Midwest region of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to the firm's website. He also served in community development for several municipalities in northeast Illinois.

Kaptain said he's seeking a second term to continue his work with the Alignment Collaborative for Education community initiative, and to keep pushing for Elgin to become the "entertainment and arts capital of the Northwest suburbs."

He also wants to resolve long-standing issues, such as the Elgin Tower Building - which a developer wants to turn into apartments - and the future of the Hemmens Cultural Center.

"I'm going to run on just positive things," he said.

One of the city council challengers, Dusenberry, said the group needs to be more decisive, increase pension fund contributions even more than what it's done so far, and not hand off critical work - such as the analysis of the future of the Hemmens - to task forces. He works as general manger of the Hampton Inn Hotel in Elgin.

Dusenberry touted his experience in analyzing and forecasting budgets, pointing to the city of Elgin's nearly $10 million increase projected in next year's budget.

"We need to be more fiscally responsible," he said.

Schmidt worked until two months ago as director of a customer software design company and is a past board member of Elgin OCTAVE, a fiscally conservative group.

Local government needs to be downsized, Schmidt said. Its focus should be limited to public safety and health emergencies, publics works, business development and parks and recreation.

"Everyone one of these things should be limited in scope," she said.

Scifert, a detective for the Aurora Police Department and company commander for the Illinois Army National Guard, said tax dollars aren't being maximized. "We need to re-look at our budget allocation," he said.

Elgin should be divided into wards each represented by a council member, which would ensure better representation for residents, Scifert said.

Scifert resigned from the Carol Stream Police Department in 2006 after he helped warn a DuPage County sheriff's lieutenant whose son allegedly was selling marijuana. He resigned because he accepted the consequences of his action, and later rebuilt his career, he said.

"When dealing with juveniles, I don't necessarily believe the best thing to do is to arrest people all the time. There are opportunities to get the parents involved and correct their behavior," he said. "One of the lessons learned there was, I was just not in a position to make that call."

Moulton, who retired from AT&T and IBM, said he wants to make sure the city spends its money wisely. He pointed to infrastructure needs and abandoned homes.

Iqbal, a retired attorney and civil engineer, said the city must address its low per capita income. Elgin also needs economic growth by attract more middle-class families and tackling residential overcrowding, he said.

Cuming, a Web designer and president of the South West Area Neighbors, said he wants to reduce the size of local government and curb "wasteful spending."

Hjelm, owner of A Taxicab Leasing Corp. in South Elgin, said many residents are unaware of "creative" city taxes that show up on cellphone and utility bills. She also wants to improve the code department.

Dusenberry and Cuming unsuccessfully ran for city council in 2013.

Objections to nominating petitions can be filed through Dec. 3.

Necessary qualifications include being a registered voter in Elgin, a resident for at least a year before the election, and not in arrears in payments to the city.

city council hopefuls file early Monday in Elgin

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