Former Mount Prospect cop wages write-in candidacy for village trustee

A former Mount Prospect police sergeant announced he is running as a write-in candidate for the village board.

Jack Brogan, who served the department for 30 years before retiring in 2019, is the second to declare a write-in candidacy.

Jeannie Lee-Macatangay, who was thrown off the ballot for improperly submitting her nominating petitions, is also pursuing a write-in campaign.

Three are on the ballot for three four-year seats — incumbents John Matuszak and Terri Gens and newcomer Beth DiPrima.

Brogan, a small-business owner and a second-generation U.S. Air Force veteran, said the village deserves a choice in the election. He criticized Matuszak for challenging Lee-Macatangay.

“Rather than have a contested election with a healthy discussion about the issues that are impacting Mount Prospect residents, Trustee Matuszak was more concerned about an easy path to his reelection,” Brogan said in a press release. He also accused Matuszak of backroom politics in trying to get a judge to put Mayor Paul Hoefert back on the electoral board deciding Lee-Macatangay’s case after Hoefert recused himself.

When asked about Brogan’s statement, Matuszak said, “We expect candidates to follow the law when they are filing petitions for candidacy. We follow the laws to maintain election integrity.”

As for asking the judge to reinstall Hoefert, Matuszak said Hoefert did not have a legal basis for disqualifying himself.

Among the issues Brogan will raise is the operation of Prestige Feed Products, an animal feed producer involved in litigation with the village over odors that have wafted into neighboring residents and businesses, including a school.

Brogan is calling for the village board to hire an outside agency to conduct an internal investigation into how the business was allowed to open at 431 Lakeview Court in the Kensington Business Center.

“It appears that the Village of Mount Prospect staff allowed a heavy use industrial business to illegally open, which has caused severe hardship for hundreds of Mount Prospect residents and our Des Plaines neighbors due to odors emitting from Prestige Feed,” he said.

He said the village staff did not raise an issue when they received Prestige’s business license application on March 19, 2019. The application stated, “We will be processing cheese for animal feed in the facility. The cheese will be dried into powder form and then sold as a raw ingredient into swine feeds.”