Pingree Grove candidate: I'd give up one seat

Patrick Whalen, a candidate for trustee in both Pingree Grove and Rutland Township, has had a change of heart in terms of what he'll do, if elected to both posts.

Although Whalen plans to continue both candidacies, he now says he'd relinquish one of them if he wins both - but only if officials tell him to do so.

"If it comes down to something where they take some kind of action and they're going to force me to choose, I'm going to have to either way, aren't I?" Whalen said.

Legal questions have surfaced over Whalen's ability to serve simultaneously as a trustee for Pingree Grove and Rutland Township, which overlaps the village.

Village attorney Dean Frieders points to a 20-year-old opinion from the Illinois Attorney General's office that declares the two offices "incompatible" because of the conflicts would likely arise between them.

Frieders said the village board would decide how to handle the situation if Whalen wins both seats.

Meanwhile, Rutland Township is taking the wait-and-see approach, said Township Attorney Ron Roeser, who represented Whalen two weeks ago when the candidate faced petition challenges that could have kicked him off the ballot in Pingree Grove.

Roeser questions whether the two offices are truly incompatible, since the opinion from the attorney general's office is an informal one "that does not carry any weight" in the law, he said.

But if the seats are deemed incompatible, Whalen would have a decision to make, Roeser said.

"And if you don't choose wisely which one you're going to oath first, it's the second oath that governs," said Roeser, also Pingree Grove's former village attorney.

On Wednesday, Whalen was defiant, saying he'd take on both seats.

A day later, he was coy about which he'd take, if elected to both and forced to make a decision.

"Why don't you call me the night of April 7 and ask those questions," he said, "and then I'll have an answer for you."