Judge says Geils can stay on ballot in Bensenville

Bensenville Village President John Geils can stay on the April 7 ballot and seek his seventh term in office, a DuPage County judge ruled Monday.

Geils' ouster was sought by a resident who claimed the longtime president no longer lived in Bensenville. Judge Bonnie Wheaton said Don Heim had failed to prove Geils was no longer residing in the village and upheld a similar unanimous village electoral board ruling.

Heim filed the lawsuit after an eight-hour electoral board hearing Feb. 19. He argued the three-member panel was comprised of Geils supporters who had publicly denounced the challenge to Geils' candidacy and couldn't render an unbiased decision. Geils' attorney conceded electoral board member Marianne Tralewski made derogatory statements about Heim's challenge, but that didn't mean the entire board was tainted.

Wheaton ruled that state law doesn't require electoral board members to recuse themselves because of bias - perceived or otherwise. Electoral board members must recuse themselves if they are going to be witnesses at the hearing or have a financial stake in the outcome, Wheaton said.

"As a matter of law, the electoral board was duly constituted," she said. "Mr. Geils will stay on the ballot. The rest is for the voters of Bensenville to decide."

Heim's residency claim against Geils was based on utility records at his York Road address. Based on water, electricity and gas usage at the house, someone living there would hardly ever take a shower or open a refrigerator, and room temperature during the winter was just enough to keep the pipes from freezing.

"The utility bills tell the tale," said Heim's attorney, Tim Martin.

But Geils' lawyer, Phil Luetkehans, countered that Geils admitted to living alone in the home only three to four days a week because he spent the rest of his time at his golf course in Wisconsin while his wife and children lived in a home in Oak Brook. Luetkehans argued the utility bills are right on target for someone living alone in that home half of the week. He said Geils spends so much time in Wisconsin because he's rebuilding a clubhouse at the golf course he owns that burned down several years ago.

Luetkehans also presented photos from inside Geils' Bensenville home that showed clothes hanging in the closet and a stocked refrigerator. Martin claimed those photos were staged and taken after the challenge was made to Geils' candidacy.

Geils is squaring off against Frank Soto in next month's election. Soto was successful in removing Geils from the ballot eight years ago when he challenged Geils' nominating papers. However, Geils ran a successful write-in campaign and won his fifth term in 2001.

"I'm astonished Mr. Soto has gone to these lengths to win," Geils said after Monday's hearing. "It's clear there are outside forces that are much larger at work here."