Grayslake trustee candidate fails in quest to stay on ballot

Lake County Circuit Judge David Hall has rejected a Grayslake trustee candidate's effort to stay on the April 7 ballot.

Resident Michael Francq was kicked off the ballot after a Grayslake electoral board hearing Feb. 7. Francq then unsuccessfully contested the decision in Lake County circuit court, which made its ruling on Monday.

Francq reiterated Tuesday the challenge to his nominating petitions that led to his ballot removal was motivated to make it easier for trustees Bruce Bassett, Amy Edwards and Shawn Vogel to retain their seats. Resident Quin O'Brien is the other trustee candidate.

"It doesn't make me sad to get thrown off the ballot," Francq said. "It makes me sad the waters of politics are so shark-infested, even at the local level."

Hall upheld the ruling by a majority of the Grayslake electoral board that found Francq's petitions were flawed and bounced him from the ballot. The hearing occurred Feb. 7 after Grayslake resident Virginia Russell complained about Francq's paperwork.

Mayor Timothy Perry, who headed the electoral board, and Clerk Cynthia Lee found one page in Francq's documents stated he was running in the "April 17, 2007," election. They said there was a risk of misleading voters and ruled the signatures on that page to be invalid.

Francq said he made a last-minute decision to run for trustee and hurried to get his nominating petitions signed. He said it was his responsibility to make sure the documents followed state law.

His nominating petitions were found to have 92 legitimate signatures, short of the 96 required for gaining ballot position.

Trustee Jeff Werfel, the third electoral board member, disagreed with the majority opinion and wanted Francq on the ballot. He said Francq's errors weren't enough to confuse voters who signed the petitions.

Francq acted as his own attorney in contesting the electoral board's decision in circuit court. The electoral board was represented by the village's contracted law firm.