Former lifeguard, aquatics manager joins Bartlett park board

Story updated to include 21 DuPage precincts; winners unchanged.

Nicholas Mostardo, a former teenage lifeguard who would be promoted to aquatics manager, can now add an elected post to his list of job titles in Bartlett Park District.

Mostardo, who left the district about two years ago and currently works for the village of Winnetka, easily won a 6-year term on Bartlett's parks board. Joining him are incumbents Lori Palmer and Stephen Eckelberry.

Unofficial tallies in all 10 Cook precincts and 21 DuPage precincts show Palmer in first place with 1,625 votes, narrowly besting Mostardo, with 1,601 votes. Eckelberry finished third with 1,447 votes.

Ralph Binetti, a real estate broker and member of the Bartlett Parks Foundation, lost his bid with 1,318 votes.

Mostardo has credited the board for bolstering open space, but has said Villa Olivia, the district's sprawling golf, banquet and ski venue off Lake Street, relies too much on weather-dependent programming.

Palmer, a Realtor and the board's president, and Eckelberry, a tech manager for a nonprofit group that offers recreational programs for special needs athletes, have touted the district's municipal partnerships, including an agreement with the village to maintain bike paths.