Former trustee wants back on Mount Prospect board

A familiar face could be returning to the Mount Prospect village board this year.

A. John Korn, who served 10 years as a village trustee, has filed as a write-in candidate in the April 4 election, making himself one of three candidates running for three open board seats. Korn, a 48-year village resident, lost his board seat in the 2015 election.

Korn has worn many hats as volunteer and businessman - among them as owner of the Cumberland Barber Shop in Des Plaines, as a member of the Sister Cities Commission and as a member of the Mount Prospect Lions Club.

He served 10 years on the village's finance commission, including seven as its chairman, before being appointed to the village board in 2005, when he replaced newly elected mayor Irvana Wilks.

Among the issues he said he has been following is development of the village's downtown.

"I have always had a strong concern about the downtown redevelopment and the new expanded TIF district," he said. "It's really imperative, I feel, to go ahead and get an active partner to this."

He also has been a proponent of annexing property into the village, as well as balancing the budget.

Korn said he decided to launch a write-in campaign because there were fewer candidates on the ballot than open board seats.

"You see a situation where the board is changing a lot, and you have people that I thought were going to go ahead and run, and they're not running, which was a complete surprise," he said.

He joins incumbent Michael A. Zadel and newcomer Bill Grossi in seeking trustee seats April 4.

The other two incumbents whose terms are ending, John Matuszak and Steven Polit, aren't running for re-election.