7 to run for 3 trustee seats in Campton Hills
Seven people - including three current trustees - have filed petitions to run for the Campton Hills village board in April.
The last day to file petitions to run for in the April 4 election was Monday.
Trustees Jim McKelvie, Michael Tyrrell and Mike Millette are each seeking a four-year term on the board, while Village Clerk Nick Girka and newcomers Rob Santoro, Joe Carpenter and Wendy White Eagle also hope to be elected.
Girka, who was elected village clerk in spring 2015, said he feels that he gets along with all board members and wants to take a more active role in village decisions.
"It's very easy to be a Monday morning quarterback saying (trustees) should have voted 'yes' or 'no.' I just want to be involved," Girka said. "A plus B doesn't always equal C because C can have consequences. You try your best to represent all people."
McKelvie and Tyrrell were appointed to fill vacancies created when Trustee Harry Blecker was elected village president in spring 2015 and Trustee Al Lenkaitis Jr., resigned because he moved out of the village.
Millette was appointed trustee shortly after the village incorporated in 2007 and won elections in 2009 and 2013.
Millette said he believes he can connect with board members who have different opinions. "That's important to me, getting folks to a common ground," he said.
McKelvie, Tyrrell, Carpenter and White Eagle, who is a member of the village's plan commission, could not immediately be reached for comment. Reached by phone Monday, Santoro said he would elaborate on his candidacy at a future date.
In spring 2015, Blecker ran for village president with a slate that included newcomer Michael O'Dwyer and incumbents Laura Andersen and Susan George for trustee and Girka for clerk.
Blecker and the other four people were elected, but the unity in Blecker's slate has deteriorated with those three trustees voting against him while other trustees have bickered at board meetings.
A lottery will be held on Dec. 7 to determine who is first on the ballot because Girka, McKelvie, Tyrrell and Millett filed simultaneously on Nov. 21.