DuPage forest preserve incumbents say they'll run again

DuPage County Forest Preserve President Dewey Pierotti says his re-election bid next year will be his last.

"There are still a few things I want to complete," Pierotti said. "I'll leave my successor with a firm package where he won't have to worry about finding new tax sources. But this will definitely be my last one."

Pierotti's three fellow Republican incumbents also announced they will seek re-election next year.

DuPage Democratic Party officials said they expect to have candidates slated for every race in 2010, not just the forest preserve. But they were not ready to release the names of the potential challengers.

District 6 Commissioner Roger Kotecki and District 2 Commissioner Joseph Cantore are seeking their third terms. District 4 Commissioner Michael Formento is running for a second term.

Kotecki served for more than 10 years as a DuPage County Board member before being squeezed out of his district when the boundaries were redrawn in 2000. Instead of running for re-election to the county board, Kotecki opted to seek a seat on the forest preserve when the two boards split in 2002. Kotecki is a lawyer who lives in Warrenville.

Formento also served on the county board for roughly 14 years before becoming a forest preserve commissioner. He was first elected to the forest preserve in 2006. He is president of the Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce. He has also served as Glen Ellyn village president.

Cantore was an Oakbrook Terrace city councilman before joining the forest preserve board. He wants to improve some of the forest preserve's existing programs and make them more accessible.

"You always have to be striving to improve," he said. "I actually think you start going backward if you just maintain the status quo."

Pierotti has been the district's president since the 2002 split from the county board. Before that he served as the forest preserve board president when county board members made up the commission. He was first elected to that post in 1994 over incumbent John Case by fellow county board members.

"I want to make certain the person who runs for forest preserve president after me that their first love is the environment and have the same feeling I have in safeguarding it," Pierotti said. "I never looked at this position as a steppingstone to another position."

Cantore said the current board works well together and there's no need for change. He cited the district's positive financial state despite the economy as an example of that cohesiveness. He also credited Pierotti with setting the pace for the board.

"Everybody up there really loves that forest preserve, especially Dewey," Cantore said. "He lives and breathes the forest preserve."

Run: Pierotti has been president since 1994