Incumbents take lead for Itasca village board

Early voting results show three incumbent Itasca trustees ahead of challenger Patrick Wartan to fill the three vacancies on the Itasca village board.

With one of nine precincts reporting, Lucy Santorsola has 45 votes while Marty Hower and Ellen Leahy each have 43.

Wartan trails them with 27 votes.

Leahy, a 16-year trustee, is running on a slate with Santorsola and Hower, both of whom were appointed to fill vacancies on the board in 2009. All three agree the coming extension of the Elgin-O’Hare Expressway is a top priority for Itasca.

Challenger Wartan, a trustee candidate who was defeated in 2009, also agrees the expansion will have a crucial impact but said the board needs more diversity and must be more responsive to residents.

The 25-year-old attorney said there is a disconnect between residents and trustees. Wartan added that residents worried about flooding, curbs and lighting during his 2009 campaign and he hasn’t seen much improvement since.

Leahy, 52, an industrial sales representative, contends the current board has invested in flood mitigation with roughly $1.5 million spent on improving the Happy Acres retention pond, currently building a new wastewater treatment plant that will improve sewers, and maintaining streets under a budget crunch.

Instead, she said plans to expand western access to O’Hare International Airport with the extension of the Elgin-O’Hare Expressway is the crucial issue facing Itasca.

Hower, 52, said he agrees and feels his career as an engineer offers the board a technical perspective that will be helpful both with the western access project and issues like flood mitigation.

Santorsola, a 46-year-old projects manager, said maintaining Itasca’s small town unity is the other key to attracting new businesses and residents, an idea echoed by all three other candidates.