Veteran Mettawa trustee dropping out of race

Mettawa’s most-veteran trustee is ending his re-election bid because he’s planning to move out of town.

Bill Nicholson still will appear on April 5 ballots, however, because the forms already have been prepared by the Lake County clerk’s office.

If elected despite dropping out of the race, Nicholson said he will serve as long as he can.

Four candidates will appear on the ballot seeking three, 4-year terms. The other hopefuls are political newcomers: Tim Towne, Roger Lane and Jeff Clark.

Nicholson, 65, has served as trustee since 1994.

Married with two grown children, he said he no longer wants to be elected because he and his wife plan to move out of the village to a smaller home within a year.

Village trustees must live within the town they serve.

Nicholson wants to publicize his plans before the election to discourage people from electing him to a full term.

“While I was encouraged to continue to run, I didn’t think that would be fair,” Nicholson said. “I wanted to let everybody know that (this is) taking place.”

Nicholson said his decision to move doesn’t reflect a displeasure with Mettawa. There simply aren’t townhouses or similarly sized homes in the small, upscale village, he said.

“We love the village, and if there was a smaller (home), we would have stayed in the village,” he said.

Nicholson’s three electoral rivals are running together as the Mettawa Party. Upon hearing of Nicholson’s decision to withdraw from the race, Towne praised the longtime trustee and his service to the village.

“Bill is a great guy,” Towne said. “He’ll be missed, and we hope he can serve on a committee until he leaves.”

Lane gave Nicholson credit for withdrawing now rather than staying quiet about his plans to relocate.

“I think he’s a pretty standup guy for doing that,” Lane said. “A lot of people would just run, serve as long as they could and then quit.”