Objection filed against Elgin council hopeful
An objection was filed by the Wednesday deadline against Kyle Scifert's petition to run for a seat on the Elgin City Council in the April 7 election.
An electoral board hearing will take place at 10 a.m. Monday at city hall, 150 Dexter Court, city officials said. The board will rule whether Scifert can stay on the ballot.
That is the only objection filed against any of the 11 candidates running for city council. Mayor David Kaptain is also running against challenger Joseph Galvan.
Elgin resident Roy Chapman said he filed the objection after he and a group of others reviewed city council candidates' petitions on behalf of Julie Schmidt, also a candidate.
The objection states that the paperwork submitted by Scifert noted a wrong date under "primary election," Elgin City Clerk Kim Dewis said. The date on the paperwork is April 7, but it should have been Feb. 24, according to the objection.
Elgin will not hold a primary election because fewer than 16 candidates filed to run.
Scifert said he hadn't looked at the paperwork yet after being notified about the objection Thursday. This is his first time running for office, said Scifert, a detective with the Aurora Police Department and company commander for the Illinois Army National Guard.
"I respect the process," he said. "If it was just a clerical error, hopefully they'll see that and understand there was no malicious intent."
Chapman said a wrong date is a "pretty egregious" mistake.
"I just feel that if you're running for city council, you should be able to fill out the paperwork correctly," he said.
Chapman - who unsuccessfully ran for city council in 2013 - said he briefly served as treasurer for the fiscally conservative group Elgin OCTAVE, of which Schmidt is a past board member. Schmidt also served as chairwoman for Elgin resident Jeffrey Meyer's failed campaign to unseat state Rep. Anna Moeller, an Elgin Democrat, in November.
Kaptain will serve on the electoral board, along with Dewis and Councilman Terry Gavin.
Typically the most senior council member sits on the electoral board, but councilman John Steffen is also running in the April election. The state board of elections advised Elgin that a drawing should be held to determine the third spot, which went to Gavin, city officials said.