Retired Fremd teacher announces bid for Mount Prospect trustee

A retired chemistry teacher announced she is running for one of the seats on the Mount Prospect village board in April.

Beth DiPrima is circulating petitions for her first run for public office.

DiPrima, 58, was raised downstate in Bloomington and received a bachelors and masters from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

She taught chemistry at William Fremd High School in Palatine before retiring in May after 34 years.

She moved to Mount Prospect in 1997 — her husband is a Mount Prospect native.

“I love this community,” she said. “It’s kind of actually more small town than the Bloomington-Normal area that I grew up in,” she said.

She said she offers a “different choice” as trustee and can devote herself to the post.

“I just want to preserve what I love about this community, this small town feel, where everyone supports each other,” she said. “I like the fact that we have new development coming on, but I want to make sure that it's done in a responsible way that's taking into account the needs of the existing businesses as well as the new businesses.”

Mount Prospect voters will be choosing a mayor and three trustees for four-year terms in the April 1 election.

Mayor Paul Hoefert has announced he is running for reelection.

Trustees John Matuszak and Terri Gens are running for reelection, while Trustee Augie Filippone said he is not running.