'Business as usual' in Streamwood
Streamwood Trustee William Carlson is pledging business as usual for the village after longtime Village President Billie Roth and the three incumbent trustees came away with convincing wins Tuesday night.
Voters seemingly preferred Roth's 20 years of experience as village president compared to Trustee Jason Speer's two years on the board. They elected Roth to a fifth four-year term. Unofficial results, with 27 of 28 precincts reporting, showed Roth defeating Speer with 1,847 votes to his 1,016 votes.
Speer, 33, said he called Roth around 8:15 p.m. to concede, adding that he would continue to push transparency and other campaign issues during his remaining two years as trustee. Voters elected Roth in 1989, and she's also served the village as a trustee and clerk. This was her first contested race village president's race in 16 years.
"Billie Roth has been on the ballot before, and voters are certainly familiar with the name," Speer said.
Roth, 57, touted how the village built up its financial reserves and hadn't laid off any workers during the current economic downswing.
Roth backed Carlson, 79, and the two other incumbent trustees who ran - 58-year-old William Harper and 53-year-old Michael Baumer.
The trio defeated three challengers. Unofficial vote totals, with 96 percent of the precincts reporting, showed Harper with 1,579 votes, Baumer with 1,575 votes and Carlson with 1,510.
That bested Speer supporter Eric Cameron, 44, who had served on the village's zoning board of appeals. He received 752 votes. Rich Janiec, 64, a park district commissioner earned 901 votes. Michelle Nabor, 55, the administrative assistant with the Streamwood Fire Department received 887 votes.
Carlson and Harper were both elected in 1989, and Carlson said Tuesday's result was a testimony of the voter satisfaction with the current administration. Baumer joined the board in 2004. The three, not surprisingly like Roth, talked about how important keeping the village's finances in check.
"We've got a pretty [darn] good track record, I think," Carlson said.
Kittie Kopitke ran unopposed and was elected to another term as village clerk.
During the campaign, Speer and Cameron claimed Roth failed to share enough village information with residents. They also claimed Roth didn't work with elected officials from neighboring communities, saying Roth was still miffed at her failed 2006 bid for state senator, when Michael Noland narrowly defeated her for the 22nd district seat.
Janiec's run focused on claims that Roth's administration had lost touch with the residents, while Nabor said residents need to be better educated on how the village spends taxpayer money.
Roth's frustration with Speer grew from the day he publicly announced he was running for village president. Though Roth hadn't been used to running a contested race, she said she wasn't pleased that Speer never notified anyone on the board or spoke about the run at a village board meeting.
Voters elected Speer in 2007, and he was backed by Roth, but their relationship deteriorated. Roth often criticized Speer for saying few words during meetings, while Speer said the meetings' structure didn't allow for trustees to freely speak their minds.