Town hall meeting to determine Glen Ellyn candidates
The Glen Ellyn political party that traditionally sends a full slate of candidates to the spring election and often to victory has announced nominees for its version of a primary during a town hall meeting Saturday.
Civic Betterment Party officials narrowed their list to four people for three available village board positions and four candidates for four seats up for re-election on the library board.
Additionally, current trustee Pete Ladesic, who ran as an independent in 2006, and Go Downtown! founder Diane McGinley will seek the party's nomination for village trustee from the floor of the meeting.
“I'm very impressed with how impressed I was with all of them,” Civic Betterment President Alex Demos said. “I talked to these candidates and it's going to be difficult to make a choice. Any one of them is going to do a great job.”
The meeting begins at 8 a.m. Dec. 4 at the Glen Ellyn Civic Center, 535 Duane St. At 11 a.m., the candidates will give three-minute speeches to talk about their qualifications.
Early voting began Monday and will continue from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and 3 to 5 p.m. Friday at the civic center.
Voting also will take place Saturday after the candidate speeches.
“Our process is a little different than most,” Demos said. “We try to get everyone represented. It's a very open process, very traditional and nonpartisan.”
Regionally based nominating committees forward their choices to party leaders, who narrow them down to a short list. Officials then invite people on the list to the town hall meeting.
Demos stressed the process does not exclude anybody and noted Ladesic narrowly failed to gain the party's nomination in 2006, yet won as an independent anyway.
“There are some people who feel uncomfortable with it from time to time,” he said. “Some opponents say it's a single-party system but it's not. It's a platform that allows everybody, regardless of wealth and connections, to have an equal shot at becoming a trustee or clerk. It levels the playing field in a very nonpartisan manner.”
Ladesic and McGinley will be joined by four others in the race for the trustee nomination. Retired banker Lyn Whiston, 15-year resident Luke Sanna and volunteer Jon-Paul Anderson will run, along with Central DuPage Hospital official Robert Friedberg, who also vied for the party's nomination in 2008.
Four seats are up for re-election on the library board and Bob McClow, John Mulherin, Sharon Weber and Maryl Wesolowski will be nominated by the party for the spring election.
“I'm a strong supporter of it because someone who may not otherwise run will run because they don't have to accumulate a team,” he said. “They just have to say ‘I want to be a trustee' and we say ‘How can we help you?'”