Prospect Heights election battle already underway

Although the April 2009 local election is months away, Prospect Heights officials are already throwing their hat into the ring.

Mayor Pat Ludvigsen and Alderman Dolly Vole expect to face off next year.

Ludvigsen said he'd like to stay in office after taking the city's top spot when Mayor Rodney Pace stepped down almost a year ago.

He said he wants to maintain continuity with the citizenry. Ludvigsen said if he is not elected, the city would have three mayors in two years, which would not benefit the residents.

There are a number of projects, including the construction of a major city levee, sale of land the city owns for the now-defunct arena project, and implementation of home rule status for the city if it's approved by voters that he wants to see through as mayor.

"There's a lot of unfinished business and I'd like to continue with the progress we've made," Ludvigsen said.

Vole said she will make good on a promise she made to run for mayor after Ludvigsen was selected by fellow council members as acting mayor.

When Ludvigsen was voted by the council to be acting mayor, Vole was the only "no" vote, saying her philosophy of how to run the city differed enough that she couldn't support him.

She said as mayor she would be accessible to residents' questions. As a real estate broker, she has a flexible schedule that would allow her to do that, she said.

"I just think the city must be an open government and be more fiscally responsible," Vole said. "That's what's needed in Prospect Heights."

Vole served as alderman from 1993 to 1996, but she resigned when she moved out of the ward she was serving. She was elected in 2007 for a 4-year term.

The winner in April will finish out Pace's term in 2011. Pace resigned shortly after being re-elected, citing health problems. Ludvigsen was made acting mayor shortly after and later gave up his trustee seat to become mayor. Ludvigsen had served on the board as alderman for five years. Before that, he served for six years on the Prospect Heights Park District board.