Former Libertyville mayor Jeff Harger to run again against Terry Weppler

A rematch for the top elected spot in Libertyville is brewing after eight years.

Jeff Harger, a business owner and former mayor and village trustee, said he will challenge incumbent Terry Weppler, who is seeking a third term as mayor in the April 4 municipal election.

"A lot of it is encouragement by the community," Harger said. "It's been overwhelming the past six months to a year."

He said he has heard from the business community, village employees and others of a sense of discontent and lack of responsiveness with the current regime.

Harger said there was a "lot of heartache" regarding a new village tax on restaurants, for example. And, he has been vocal about a proposed residential development west of Butterfield Road, which he said shouldn't be built in that location.

Both men have deep community involvement and are well known in town. Harger is head of HLP Systems Inc., a lightning protection company, and Weppler is a retired attorney specializing in real estate and zoning issues.

Harger was a village trustee from 1997 to 2005 when he was elected mayor. Weppler, served as a village trustee from 1979 to 1985, and for years headed the Libertyville Days festival and annual parade committees.

In 2009, Weppler challenged Harger in the first contested mayoral election in Libertyville in 20 years. He and a slate of three trustee candidates rode a message of dissatisfaction with the lack of responsiveness by village officials and easily beat Harger and three incumbents.

With the economic downturn in full force at the time, Libertyville like other communities had falling sales tax revenues and was struggling to cut expenses. Village staff now is much leaner and the economy appears to be recovering, particularly in the downtown with an explosion of new restaurants.

However, growth in village expenses is expected to outpace revenue in coming years.

"The economy is better but there are still issues," Harger said.

Weppler said elected officials had to make hard decisions to keep the village in the black, and he noted the downtown resurgence as a highlight of his administration.

"Initially, people were skeptical of us issuing as many liquor licenses as we did. Before I took office, there were a lot of vacant buildings downtown," he said.

Rich Moras and Jay Justice, two of the three trustees elected with Weppler eight years ago, are running again. The third, Todd Gaines, resigned a few months ago. His replacement, former police chief Pat Carey, also will seek election to the seat.

"There are things that aren't done yet," Weppler said of seeking a third term. Among them are renovation of the downtown Metra station, rebirth of the former Motorola campus and other development in the northwest area.

Harger said he will run on a platform of better village government communication, but he doesn't plan to be part of a slate.

"I'm running for my reasons. I don't want to be painted as someone who wants to turn the apple cart upside down," he said.