Village president selects new trustee Nick Campbell

Pingree Grove appointed a new trustee without seeking applications from residents interested in the position, unlike four years ago.

Village President Steve Wiedmeyer selected resident Nick Campbell for the seat left vacant when Wiedmeyer, a trustee for 18 years, was elected to the top post last month.

The village board unanimously approved Campbell's appointment before he was sworn in at Monday's board meeting. Also sworn in were Wiedmeyer and re-elected incumbents Bernie Thomas, Bob Spieker and Brian Paszkiewicz.

Campbell, a resident since 2008, said his focus will be to try to attract small businesses to town. "Marketing is probably key," he said. "The town hasn't been marketed very well over the past handful of years. That's a specialty of mine. I've been in marketing for 15 years."

Wiedmeyer said Campbell was the only resident who approached him about being appointed to the board. Campbell has worked as an on-call snowplow driver for the village since 2010 and has worked seasonally for the public works department. He also served on the village's events and garden committees, and took part in the village's citizens police academy.

Campbell's experience made him a great candidate, Wiedmeyer said. "It's valuable for a trustee to have all that knowledge right off the bat," he said.

Four years ago, the board appointed trustee Ray LaMarca after interviewing several candidates who had applied. LaMarca was also the runner-up in the 2011 election. "That was the choice that was made at that time," Wiedmeyer said. "There's no protocol for that. There is no wrong way or right way."

There are no women on the seven-member village board. The last female trustee served until 2011. The runner-up in April was resident Joe Nowosielski, but Nowosielski did not approach him to be appointed, Wiedmeyer said.

Campbell, who said he has attended board meetings since 2010, said he didn't run in April because he supported all the incumbents. "The individuals that were running were all qualified candidates," he said.