Glen Ellyn Civic Betterment Party names candidates for town hall
There will be some new faces on the Glen Ellyn village board this spring and the transition already has begun with Trustee Tim Elliott stepping down to assume his recently-won DuPage County Board seat.
Village President Alex Demos has recommended the board appoint Diane McGinley, a former trustee, to Elliott's spot. Members will vote to approve her appointment on Monday, Nov. 21.
McGinley also is running next April to succeed Demos as village president. Demos is sticking to a time-honored tradition in Glen Ellyn by voluntarily handing over reins of the position after just one term.
The village's Civic Betterment Party has named McGinley to its slate of candidates seeking seats on the village and library boards in the April election. The nonpartisan, volunteer-run organization will present the slate to voters at a caucus-style town hall Saturday, Dec. 3.
The top-vote getters receive the party's nomination along with support to file nominating petitions. Party-backed candidates almost always go on to win election.
The ritual, an anomaly in the suburbs, happens every two years and aims to level the playing field in village politics.
The party's nominating committee announced the slate Tuesday after accepting applications and interviewing candidates for spots on the village and library boards.
The organization historically gives town hall voters their pick of two or three finalists for the village's top elected post, but McGinley was the lone applicant, Civic Betterment President Erik Ford said. McGinley also did not seek re-election in 2015 after one term as trustee.
Candidates not selected by the committee to appear at the town hall can still pursue an endorsement if they're nominated from the floor. But they face an uphill battle because supporters would have to manually write in their names on ballots.
The four finalists slated by the committee for three available trustee spots are Bill Enright, Craig Pryde, Gary Fasules and Phil Piscopo.
The seats are now held by Elliott, Dean Clark and Timothy O'Shea. Clark and O'Shea are not running, Ford said. Elliott earlier this month won a 4-year term representing District 4 on the DuPage County Board.
On the village's library board, the five finalists for three open spots are Robert Albertson, Colleen Trinko, Shannon Burgess, Andre Wright and Diane "Didi" Foth.
The party has not slated anyone to succeed Village Clerk Catherine Galvin, who has opted to step down after one term.
Residents must be at least 18 to cast their ballots during a few days of early voting and at the town hall from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 3, at the Civic Center at 535 Duane St. They do not have to be registered voters.
Other candidates still can run against a Civic Betterment nominee by submitting nominating petitions with the village clerk's office during a filing period from Dec. 12 through Dec. 19.