St. Charles draws strong interest in municipal races
With the much-publicized legal battles of former St. Charles Alderman David Richards leading to his early resignation, the city's 5th Ward seat will be one of the most closely watched municipal elections.
Monday's first day of filing offered up several candidates voters should already be at least somewhat familiar with.
The 5th Ward seat, for now, is a battle among the recently-appointed Maureen Lewis, former city employee Kim Malay and frequent city council critic Jotham Stein. Lewis is the wife of Kane County Board Member Phil Lewis. She received the blessing of Mayor Don DeWitte to be Richards' successor over Malay and Stein, who also sought the appointment. Voters will now have the chance to let DeWitte now if they support his choice. Incumbent Alderman Ed Bessner seeks the other 5th Ward seat. He is currently unopposed.
Also on the ballot are Vanessa Bell-LaSota and Raymond P. Rogina. Both candidates announced their intentions to run for the 3rd Ward seat being vacated by John McGuirk several weeks ago.
In the only other contested race thus far, Arthur Lemke and Rita Anne Payleitner are both seeking the 2nd Ward seat currently represented by Alderman Betsy Penny. Lemke is a former alderman who lost his seat to current Alderman Cliff Carrignan. Payleitner is a longtime resident.
First Ward Alderman Dan Stellato and 4th Ward Alderman Jim Martin are currently running unopposed in their re-election bids.
Batavia
First Ward Alderman Garran Sparks submitted his paperwork for re-election Monday.
Campton Hills
Officials had no way to gauge interest in the spring 2011 election because the village put its nominating petitions online instead of at a desk at the village hall.
So far, Village President Patsy Smith filed petitions seeking another four-year term. Also, incumbent Trustees Laura Andersen, Susan George and James Kopec filed petitions for four-year terms, as did Village Clerk Carolyn Higgins.
• Staff writers Susan Sarkauskas, Jameel Naqvi, Christopher Placek and Harry Hitzeman contributed to this story.
Tri-Cities area election filings
A partial list of candidates who have filed to run for election. Filing period is Dec. 13 to 20 for municipal, school, park, library and fire district board races.
MUNICIPALITIES
Campton Hills
Village President
(4-year term)
Patsy Smith
Village Board
(4-year term)
* Laura Andersen
* Susan George
* James Kopec
Village Clerk
(4-year term)
* Carolyn Higgins
Elburn
Village Board
(Three 4-year terms)
Richard C. Garcia
Audrey Symowicz
Batavia
City Council
(4-year term, vote for 1 in each ward)
1st Ward: *Garran Sparks
3rd Ward: *Dan Chanzit
4th Ward: Susan Stark
6th Ward: *Lisa Clark
7th Ward: *David Brown
(2-year unexpired term, vote for 1)
3rd Ward: *Janet Jungels
Geneva
City Council
(4-year term, vote for 1 in each ward)
1st Ward: *Charles Brown, Esther Barclay, Zachary Ploppert
2nd Ward: *Robert Piper
3rd Ward: Dean Kilburg, Becky Hruby
4th Ward: *Dorothy Flanagan
5th Ward: *Craig Maladra
St. Charles
City Council
1st Ward: * Dan Stellato
2nd Ward: Arthur Lemke, Rita Anne Payleitner
3rd Ward: Vanessa Bell-LaSota, Raymond P. Rogina
4th Ward: *Jim Martin
5th Ward: *Ed Bessner
5th Ward (vacated): Maureen Lewis, Kim Malay, Jotham Stein
South Elgin
Village Trustee
(Three, 4-year terms)
Lisa Guess
Steve Ward
SCHOOL BOARDS
Kaneland 302
(Four 4-year terms)
Tony Valente
*Deborah Grant
Joe Oberweis
*Teresa Witt
Elgin Area U-46
(Four, 4-year terms)
Maria Bidelman
Amy Kerber
Gary Percy
Burlington Central Unit D301
(Four, 4-year terms)
Rose Diaz
Dave Maracini
Rich Perry
Rick Pryor
Tim Petschke
Laura Rabe
Gary Weigand
PARK BOARDS
Batavia
(Two 6-year terms)
*Gary Foiles
Kevin Riley
Geneva
(One 6-year term)
*Susan Vanderveen
LIBRARY BOARDS
Messenger
(Three 4-year terms)
*William R. Middleton
Shannon Rapp
* Incumbent
Tri-Cities area election filings
A partial list of candidates who have filed to run for election. Filing period is Dec. 13 to 20 for municipal, school, park, library and fire district board races.
MUNICIPALITIES
Campton Hills
Village President
(4-year term)
Patsy Smith
Village Board
(4-year term)
* Laura Andersen
* Susan George
* James Kopec
Village Clerk
(4-year term)
* Carolyn Higgins
Elburn
Village Board
(Three 4-year terms)
Richard C. Garcia
Audrey Symowicz
Batavia
City Council
(4-year term, vote for 1 in each ward)
1st Ward: *Garran Sparks
3rd Ward: *Dan Chanzit
4th Ward: Susan Stark
6th Ward: *Lisa Clark
7th Ward: *David Brown
(2-year unexpired term, vote for 1)
3rd Ward: *Janet Jungels
Geneva
City Council
(4-year term, vote for 1 in each ward)
1st Ward: *Charles Brown, Esther Barclay, Zachary Ploppert
2nd Ward: *Robert Piper
3rd Ward: Dean Kilburg, Becky Hruby
4th Ward: *Dorothy Flanagan
5th Ward: *Craig Maladra
St. Charles
City Council
1st Ward: * Dan Stellato
2nd Ward: Arthur Lemke, Rita Anne Payleitner
3rd Ward: Vanessa Bell-LaSota, Raymond P. Rogina
4th Ward: *Jim Martin
5th Ward: *Ed Bessner
5th Ward (vacated): Maureen Lewis, Kim Malay, Jotham Stein
South Elgin
Village Trustee
(Three, 4-year terms)
Lisa Guess
Steve Ward
SCHOOL BOARDS
Kaneland 302
(Four 4-year terms)
Tony Valente
*Deborah Grant
Joe Oberweis
*Teresa Witt
Elgin Area U-46
(Four, 4-year terms)
Maria Bidelman
Amy Kerber
Gary Percy
Burlington Central Unit D301
(Four, 4-year terms)
Rose Diaz
Dave Maracini
Rich Perry
Rick Pryor
Tim Petschke
Laura Rabe
Gary Weigand
PARK BOARDS
Batavia
(Two 6-year terms)
*Gary Foiles
Kevin Riley
Geneva
(One 6-year term)
*Susan Vanderveen
LIBRARY BOARDS
Messenger
(Three 4-year terms)
*William R. Middleton
Shannon Rapp
* Incumbent