Papantos to be sworn in as Wheeling's new trustee, but Vito disputing election results

Mary Papantos will be sworn in as Wheeling's new trustee next Monday, but election rival Joe Vito isn't conceding defeat without a fight.

Papantos officially won a seat on the village board in the April 7 election by the slimmest of margins - just 26 votes over write-in candidate Vito, according to totals certified Tuesday, a Cook County clerk's office spokesman said.

Vito, however, is challenging 33 ballots declared invalid by the county because voters, although they wrote his name, didn't fill in a corresponding arrow. The write-in candidate argues the paper ballots should be counted - which would swing the outcome of the race in his favor. In that case, Vito would win by a 7-vote margin.

"They can't knock me out on a technicality," said the attorney, who plans to file an election contest in Cook County court this week.

Papantos is clearly ready to move on. She called Village President Dean Argiris, who endorsed Vito's slate, "gracious" and "welcoming" during a recent meeting. And she's reaching out to department heads to get up to speed on village business.

After two previous unsuccessful attempts at the office, now "the fun begins," Papantos said.

The village is legally obligated to swear in Papantos, Village Attorney Jim Ferolo said.

"We have a duly elected official declared the winner by the county," Ferolo said. "We have to swear that person in until a court tells us otherwise."

Vito said Papantos ran on a campaign pledge to listen to residents, but by taking the seat, "her first act is obviously silencing 33 of them."

The clerk's office has said it doesn't have the discretion to count the 33 ballots based on state law and legal precedent. According to its official tallies, Papantos has 884 votes to Vito's 858 counted votes.

But Vito argues that 33 additional voters clearly cast their ballots for him by writing his name. He says he has 30 days to file suit now that the results are certified but has his paperwork in order to do so this week.

Argiris has sided with Vito's claims and called Papantos the trustee-elect "right now in the eyes of the county" during Monday night's board meeting.

He also heaped praise on Vito after his four-month appointment on the board ended Monday. Argiris tapped the attorney for the temporary spot left open in the wake of Trustee Robert Heer's sudden death.

"I know the strength of a good team gets you through the hard times, and I see that happening with all of us, so I appreciate it, again what you've done," Argiris told Vito. "And I'm sure you'll be back somewhere in some capacity of the village of Wheeling for sure."

Vito left the plan commission to complete Heer's term. But he says he hasn't been asked to return to the panel and doesn't want to - yet.

"I would prefer to just wait all this out, so it's not like musical chairs," he said.