Challengers' slate sweeps Lake Zurich village elections
The CARE slate ran the table in Lake Zurich Tuesday, winning the village president, clerk and all three open trustee seats on a platform of change.
Suzanne Branding, currently a trustee on the village board, headed the slate's push against incumbent John Tolomei's Village Pride slate after redevelopment plans for downtown Lake Zurich hit roadblocks.
Three incumbents - the village president, clerk and a trustee - were unseated in the election Tuesday.
"The people spoke, the community spoke and they let us know what direction they want to go," Branding said.
With all 16 precincts reporting, unofficial totals indicate that Branding had 1,867 votes, Tolomei had 1,756 votes and independent candidate Scot Unger had 295 votes.
CARE candidates topped the trustee race as well; Richard Sustich had 2,075 votes, Jeffrey Halen had 2,035 votes and Jonathan Sprawka had 1,991 votes. Village Pride candidate Carol Coleman had 1,722 votes, Maureen Degen had 1,589 votes and incumbent Craig Taylor had 1,588 votes.
Wende Dau will take over as village clerk, winning 1,952 votes to defeat incumbent Gloria Palmblad, who had 1,892 votes, unofficial totals showed.
"We're very excited and for the first time I started to think we're going to have some work ahead of us," Branding said. "We can do this as a team."
Branding's win will leave a trustee seat open because her seat was not up for election. She will appoint a replacement, who must be approved by the village board.
Downtown redevelopment was the key issue in the race. The new board will work with Equity Services Group as the developer, after the village approved a contract with the Barrington-based group in February.
The village hopes to bring in a mix of residential, business and office space and make its downtown a more pedestrian-friendly area. ESG is required to make its first project proposal to the village by September 2010.
Branding's CARE slate ran as challengers after village redevelopment efforts hit roadblocks. The village cut ties in 2007 with McCaffery Interests of Chicago, saying the developer breached its contract.
Trustees Steve McAvoy and Steve Callahan did not run for re-election.