Mayoral contests shaping up in several Northwest suburbs
As candidate filing for local elections opened Tuesday in Arlington Heights, Phillip Walter emerged to challenge longtime village President Arlene Mulder.
Both filed their paperwork Tuesday, as village hall was closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King holiday. Filing continues through Monday, Jan. 25.
Walter said he wants to reduce spending and cut programs that do not meet their stated goals. He also wants to offer incentives for businesses to relocate to Arlington Heights.
"It seems to me there was a lot of enthusiasm from residents who are looking for a change and new ideas," Walter said. "It encouraged me when 150 of our residents came to speak about the tax levy."
Mulder is looking to serve a fifth term as village president. If elected, her first priority will be to develop the long vacant gas station that's an eyesore at Arlington Heights and Golf roads, she has said.
Walter has lived in Arlington Heights for 39 years. He and his wife, Dawn, have four children. Mulder has been an Arlington Heights resident for 38 years. She and her husband Albert have three married children and five grandchildren.
In two Barrington-area communities, sitting trustees cast challenges against their incumbent village presidents Tuesday.
Barrington Hills Village President Robert G. Abboud will face off against Trustee George L. Schueppert on election day, while Lake Barrington Village President Kevin C. Richardson's bid for re-election is being challenged by Trustee Jean Vonder Haar.
Seeking a return to the village board in Lake Barrington is former village President Dorothy "Connie" Schofield. She'll join a competition for three open trustee seats along with incumbents Lauren DeJesu and Paul Struck and challengers Christopher D. Mitchell and Javier F. Suarez.
In Wheeling, three sitting trustees, Judy Abruscato, Dean Argiris, and Pat Horcher, will vie for the village president seat, as earlier announced. David Kolssak, currently a member of the Chicago Executive Airport board, also is expected to run.
Argiris is the current acting president, but Abruscato and Horcher also had turns as acting president after Greg Klatecki stepped down midterm in 2007.
Abruscato is the more experienced of the three having served more than two decades on the board. Horcher has served 14 years on the board, and Argiris for eight years.
In Rolling Meadows, there is no mayoral contest, but John D'Astice announced he will he running for Rolling Meadows sixth ward alderman in the April election. D'Astice represented the ward for 12 years before retiring because of term limits in 2004. D'Astice said he is running because the city council has raised taxes, reduced city services and incurred about $1.5 million dollars of debt in the past two years. D'Astice and his wife Mary Lou have four children.
The current sixth ward alderman, Kathy Kwandras said she is also running for re-election.
• Daily Herald staff writers Sheila Ahern, Madhu Krishnamurthy and Eric Peterson contributed to this report.