Objections aplenty in COD trustee race
The dwindling field of College of DuPage trustee candidates could become even smaller if an outgoing trustee has his way.
Kory Atkinson filed objections to six candidates. Meanwhile, incumbent Mark Nowak's paperwork also faces a separate challenge. Those objections come on the heels of two candidates dropping out Monday.
Four seats are up for grabs on the COD board, including that of Atkinson, who is not seeking re-election so he can run for a seat on the Roselle village board. Three of the seats are for six-year stints, which features 11 candidates. The fourth seat is a two-year term and objections have been filed against all four candidates in that race.
The election is April 7.
Atkinson, a lawyer, said he looked over each candidate's paperwork. Some of his objections relate to signatures on petitions, while others involve technicalities like length of residency and identifying the term of office.
"It's important to ensure the election laws of Illinois are upheld, and if someone can't fill out their election forms properly they shouldn't be serving on a college board that oversees a $146 million budget," he said.
Kim Savage said Atkinson's objection to her paperwork is frivolous because he claims she misidentified the college's district number. She is running for one of the six-year seats.
"If anybody looks at my paperwork, it's pretty obvious what I was filing for," she said. "In 29 places it says District 502, and in one spot it's not as clear."
Atkinson also filed objections against six-year term candidates Tom Wendorf and Terrell Barnes. In the two-year race he filed objections to Sandy Kim, Jeffrey Handel and Gino Impellizzeri.
Nowak is at the bottom of the ballot for the two-year race and Lombard resident Daniel Chambers challenged the signatures on his ballot, Nowak said.
"What's weird is he's only challenging like 18 signatures and I have 86, which leaves me with more than the 50 I need," Nowak said.
Adding to the saga is determining who will actually preside over the objection hearings. Guidelines provide that the board chairman, board secretary and longest-serving member make up the college's electoral board. Board member Kathy Wessel will be one of the panelists because of her length of service. However, COD board Chairman Mike McKinnon is a disqualified because he's also seeking re-election. Nowak is vice chairman and is disqualified for the same reason as McKinnon. And because board secretary Kay Neeley is a paid employee of the college, Atkinson is objecting to her because it may appear she could be rewarded or punished based on her vote. The college will likely seek guidance from DuPage Circuit Court Chief Judge Stephen Culliton on how to seat the electoral board.