Familiar names for April ballots
They won't be as high-profile as the recent gubernatorial or Senate races, but several local political battles are shaping up for the April 2011 consolidated election in Lake County.
Candidate filing ended Monday afternoon, revealing contested village-board races in Volo, Green Oaks, Island Lake and other towns.
Volo hasn't had many contested elections in its 17-year history as an incorporated village — but it will in 2011.
Five people have filed for the three trustee seats that will be on the April 5 ballot. Incumbents Mike Wagner and Chrissi Steffani-Wardlow will face off against planning board member Michael Pones and newcomers Kent Hansen and Kurt Justice.
All three seats carry 4-year terms.
It's not the first time candidates outnumbered available seats in Volo's brief history. But the last time it happened, all the candidates wound up serving anyway.
In 2007, four candidates locked horns for three open trustee seats on the ballot. An unexpired two-year term also was on the ballot, but it attracted no candidates.
On Election Day, three candidates won 4-year seats. The board later appointed the fourth candidate to fill the vacancy.
In Lake Zurich, five candidates are seeking three seats on the village board, including a former mayor.
Three candidates are members of the Lake Zurich Vision Party slate: Mark Ernst, Jenny Talley and incumbent Dana Rzeznik. The two other candidates are incumbent Tom Poynton and former mayor John G. Tolomei.
Voters are facing a race in Green Oaks, too.
Three incumbents — Richard Glogovsky, John T. Wagener and Patricia P. Thomas — are seeking re-election. But also in the running is attorney Dan Sugrue, who recently lost his second bid for the state House 59th District seat.
“It's just a way I can help out my community on a local level,” Sugrue said Monday. “It's not exactly the same issues you see in Springfield but I think people want more access to the way their government is run.”
Incumbent Pamela M. Milroy, who had been appointed to fill a vacancy, is the lone candidate for a 2-year term on the Green Oaks board.
In Island Lake, three new trustees are guaranteed to join the village board after the election. That's because three incumbents whose seats are up have chosen not to run again.
Instead, seven newcomers are running for the three, 4-year terms.
Charles Cermak, Mary Piekarski, Allen Murvine are running together on a slate, as are Thea J. Morris, Joseph K. Ptak, Shannon L. Fox. Marcy Night also filed as a candidate.
Ptak garnered a bit of fame earlier this year when he, as an audience member, called for the Pledge of Allegiance at a forum for congressional candidates. When the moderator refused, the audience recited the oath anyway, creating a national political fervor.
In Gurnee, six candidates will be on the ballot for three, 4-year trustee seats.
Incumbents Greg Garner, Cheryl Ross and Michael Jacobs are seeking re-election. Set to challenge them are plan commission member Steve Park and newcomers Heath Hummel and Matt Koch.
Ross and Jacobs traditionally support Mayor Kristina Kovarik, while Garner often is politically at odds with her.
Seats on local school, parks and library boards across the county will be on the April ballot, too.
Daily Herald staff writers Lee Filas, Bob Susnjara and Mick Zawislak contributed to this report.