Ballot still not set for Carpentersville

A pair of village trustee hopefuls in East Dundee were removed from the April 7 ballot Monday night, while two Carpentersville trustee candidates so far will surely appear on the ballot.

But nine others from Carpentersville, including village president candidates, must wait until Friday to find out if they will also be included.

Since Carpentersville Trustee Paul Humpfer recused himself from acting as chairman of the electoral board for village president candidates, the board must wait until a judge-appointed public member is seated.

Humpfer removed himself from the board to "avoid the appearance of impropriety" because incumbent village President Bill Sarto was directly and indirectly involved in Humpfer's recent domestic abuse court case. Sarto cannot preside over the village president hearing since he is a candidate in the race. He did oversee the trustee hearings.

So far, objections against Kenneth Andresen and Debra Lowen have been overruled, meaning both candidates will remain on the trustee ballot.

One-time village board candidate Frank Stoneham filed objections against incumbent village President Bill Sarto and challenger Jim Krenz, incumbent Trustee Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski, and trustee hopefuls Lowen, Andresen and Joseph Haimann.

Among the complaints, Stoneham contends petitions include forged or duplicated signatures, or signatures from people who live outside of the village.

In addition, Stoneham claimed both Andresen and Lowen exceeded the maximum number of signatures and should be removed from the ballot.

But since Stoneham did not challenge any of the signatures, the candidates' attorney, Matthew Flamm, argued any signatures beyond the 235 recommended maximum should be "lopped off" the end, which would leave enough valid signatures to remain on the ballot.

A binder check at the Kane County Board of Elections office is required to determine the eligibility of Haimann and Ramirez-Sliwinski.

Furthermore, resident Judith Gallagher challenged petitions from village president hopefuls Krenz and Ed Ritter, as well as incumbent Trustee Kay Teeter, plus challengers Kent Baldwin, Bradford McFeggan and Patricia Schultz.

This time, Flamm represented the objector and attempted to discredit the testimony of the candidates' notary public, Diane Evertsen, and brought in a witness who testified nominating petitions had been altered.

Village Clerk Terri Wilde removed herself because she would likely be called as a witness to testify against trustee candidates Teeter, Schultz, Baldwin and McFeggan.

In interest of fairness, the village's attorney Michael Duggan suggested the board again request the appointment of a public member.

For now, the ballot in East Dundee is two names shorter after the electoral board voted to remove former village Trustee Howard Schock and resident Patrick Clarke. Both were removed for improperly binding nominating petitions, Trustee Jeff Lynam said.

Clarke said he would challenge the decision.

The Carpentersville electoral board will reconvene at 6:30 p.m. Friday to rule on objections filed against the trio of village president candidates and six remaining trustee candidates.

Ballot: Electoral board will rule on objections Friday