First day of filing sees a couple big mayoral races in Kane County
Many taxing bodies closed their doors Monday to reflect on the dreams of racial equality effused by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., but several local public bodies opened to receive the first step toward a handful of residents realizing their dream to win, or hold onto, an elected office.
All local school districts were closed Monday, but will receive candidate filings starting first thing Tuesday. Elburn, Sugar Grove and Campton Hills closed their municipal offices as well on Monday.
Candidates filing for the April 7 election for municipal office have until the close of business Monday, Jan. 26 to file their candidacy petitions.
St. Charles
Of the offices that were open in Geneva, St. Charles and Batavia, St. Charles showed the strongest potential to have the most contested races in April and the first of two big mayoral races in the area. Five alderman seats, one in each ward, plus the role of mayor is up for election this time around. As the doors on city hall opened Monday, half of the incumbents in those seats learned they'd have competition on the ballot.
Alderman Ron Silkaitis will face fellow Ward 1 resident Jon Monken. Ward 5 Alderman David Richards will face off against Mike Luehr. And Mayor Don DeWitte will face a challenge from Jotham Stein.
St. Charles voters may recognize Stein's name as he recently ran in the Democratic Primary for the 14th Congressional District in a race eventually won by Bill Foster.
"I'm essentially running because I can bring a lot with my talents to this community," Stein said. "We want to make sure we bring business to this community and make sure that development happens in a responsible, community way."
Voters can see more of what Stein is talking about tonight at the city's planning commission when Stein will discuss concerns he has with the Towne Centre project.
DeWitte said he's used to having some competition in the mayoral race, but will do everything he can to win decisively. Indeed, DeWitte began his campaign back in September when he first announced his intention to seek re-election.
"We've been able to accomplish a lot of the goals we set out to tackle four years ago when I was elected by a significant margin," DeWitte said. "I have done my best to maintain the commitments I made to the voters of this community. We will continue the philosophy that has proved successful in recharging St. Charles."
Aldermen Cliff Carrignan, William Turner and Jo Krieger will all seek re-election, but have no challengers thus far.
Batavia
Batavia will play host to the second big mayoral contest based on Monday's filings.
Alderman Alan Wolff will give up his seat for a shot at becoming mayor and unseating the longest-serving town leader in Kane County, Jeff Schielke. Batavia Main Street Director Britta McKenna has also said she'll run for mayor, but, like Schiele, did not file petitions on Monday.
In Batavia's 1st Ward, Stephen E. Frank will attempt to take Jodie Wollnik's seat. Kyle P. Hohmann will attempt to unseat Linnea C. Miller in the 3rd Ward. Alderman James Volk seeks another term in the 4th Ward. And Dawn Tenuta will vie for the 7th Ward seat currently held by Nancy Vance.
Geneva
In Geneva, Mayor Kevin Burns will seek another term and was unopposed as of late Monday afternoon. Aldermen Sam Hill, Dawn Vogelsberg and Ron Singer also submitted their filing papers with no opponents to greet them so far. Aldermen William Barclay and Paul DesCoteaux announced earlier that they would not seek re-election. Possibly filling Barclay's seat will be Richard Marks in the 2nd Ward. Meanwhile, 5th Ward voters have three candidates to choose from so far in John Trierweiler, Douglas Warlick and Ralph Dantino.
There were no big surprises on any of the local park or library boards. Three of the four incumbents on St. Charles Park District with expiring terms filed to run again Monday. Karrsten Goettel, John Kerr and Gloria Klimek submitted their petitions. John Forni is expected to file his petitions later this week. St. Charles Public Library Board incumbents Norm Huntley and Mike Hill will also seek re-election. Debbie McManus' seat is also expiring, but no one had filed to fill the slot as of Monday.
On the Geneva Park Board, Pat Lenski will seek one of the two seats up for re-election. Those seats are currently filled by Board President Chuck Emma and Commissioner Mike Abts.
North Aurora
North Aurora residents learned who their village candidates will be back in December. On Monday they learned Marguerite Treest and Janet Leach will seek new terms on the Messenger Public Library Board. They will be joined in that quest by newcomer Tanya Berley.
Daily Herald staff writer Susan Sarkauskas also contributed to this story