College of DuPage candidates kicked off ballot
While it took about 20 minutes on average to dispose of six challenges to College of DuPage trustee candidates Tuesday, the seventh and final electoral board hearing proved to be a doozy.
Clocking in at almost four hours, the objection hearing into whether challenger Sandy Kim has lived in the college district for the requisite year turned into an exercise in legal theory.
The protracted battle eventually went to Kim's camp by a 2-1 vote, the only split decision of the day. Board Chairman Mike McKinnon was the lone dissenting vote while board secretary Kay Neely and Trustee Kathy Wessel voted for Kim.
The beleaguered candidate had no idea why her hearing dragged on for so long.
"I really don't know," she said afterward. "But I fought this hard to stay on the ballot, so I guess I'll keep on fighting."
At the heart of the debate was the statute that requires college trustee candidates to maintain residency for a year before the election. In this case, that's a year from the upcoming April 7 election.
Current - but outgoing - COD trustee Kory Atkinson objected to Kim's candidacy papers, arguing she hadn't lived in the district a year despite presenting documentation that she signed a lease on her West Chicago home in early March 2008.
He claimed she hadn't shown "intent" to maintain residency by waiting to register to vote until last October.
Kim, a recent graduate of the college, will keep her spot on the ballot for the one 2-year term along with incumbent Mark Nowak and fellow challenger Jeffrey Handel, who also survived challenges Tuesday.
Another challenger, Gino Impellezzeri, was not so fortunate.
He railed against the electoral board's decision to remove his name from the ballot because he didn't specify which term he was seeking.
"Are we stupid or what?" he shouted. "If you think you are getting rid of me, you are wrong. Whether or not I'm elected, I'm not finished here."
There are also three 6-year terms up for grabs on April 7.
There were challenges to three candidates in that race as well, which met with mixed results. Kim Savage and Tom Wendorf successfully fought off challenges, but Terrell Barnes bowed out after a check of signatures on his petitions last week left him without the required number.
That narrows the race for those three seats to 10 candidates.