Folarin out on ECC board?

It appears Elgin Community College Trustee Phyllis Folarin is not seeking re-election.

Folarin, an Elgin resident who has served on the board since 1999, is the only incumbent up for re-election who has not yet filed her election paperwork.

Although Folarin has until Monday, Dec. 20, to file, Elgin attorney John Dalton, who lost a bid this year to become a judge in the 16th Judicial Circuit, said Tuesday he was recruited to run for the ECC board to replace an incumbent who has decided not to run again.

He did not confirm that person is Folarin but pointedly did not deny it, either.

“One of the incumbents is not going to run again,” Dalton said. “They suggested I run to continue ECC on the path it's on because I think it's on the right path.”

Folarin, a former ECC board chair who works as an educational consultant, could not be reached for comment.

Dalton was one of five people who filed Monday for three open seats on the board. The others are board chair Eleanor “Ellie” MacKinney, board member John Duffy, Darwin Adams and L. Robert Russell.

Russell, a South Elgin resident, was defeated this year in a bid to capture the Republican nomination for Kane County Sheriff.

MacKinney, a retired Elgin Area School District U-46 administrator and Hampshire resident, was first elected in 1999 and previously served as board chair from 2003 to 2005.

Duffy, a former teacher and administrator at Larkin High School, is the longest serving trustee in ECC history. He joined the board in 1975 and has been elected as board chair seven times.

Candidates have until 5 p.m. on Monday to file their election paperwork.