Libertyville village board race pits experience against fresh perspectives

The race for three seats on the Libertyville village board features incumbents who say their experience has served the town well versus challengers who contend the community needs a fresh perspective going forward.

Incumbents Scott Adams and Pete Garrity each are seeking a third 4-year term. They're running together on records they say have put the village in its best financial position in decades and led to the creation of master plans for stormwater management, parks and other areas.

Jim Connell, who was appointed in 2021 to fill the seat vacated when Donna Johnson was elected mayor, is seeking his first full term. The marketing business owner is running a solo campaign.

Besides infrastructure projects and parks programming, Connell says it's important to aid, attract and grow business in the community.

Political newcomers Brian Enochs, a business development and marketing professional, and Alejandra Dominguez, program manager/director with the U.S. Department of Labor, are running as a team.

They agree Libertyville is managed well but say they would bring new ideas focused on the future.

Information regarding the candidates and their stances comes from interviews, forums, online posts and other sources.

Adams, a lifelong Libertyville resident and president/CEO of the GLMV Chamber of Commerce, was appointed to the board in 2014. Garrity is a retired corporate executive who moved to Libertyville 42 years ago. He was elected as a write-in in 2015, when only two candidates were on the ballot for three seats.

The pair say they have a proven record of experienced leadership and involvement that has kept the village financially sound and led to other major improvements, such as flood control and park upgrades.

“We run for reelection based on our record of leadership, experience, involvement and our commitment to you,” according to a recent Facebook post.

“The village of Libertyville has evolved because of dedication and leadership and will prosper into the future because of these skills.” They've noted that besides Johnson, the other village board members are relatively new and can benefit from the history and guidance Adams and Garrity can offer.

Maintaining financial stability, keeping the business community vibrant and addressing large capital needs will be issues in coming years, Adams said.

Connell says collaboration is “critically important” in serving the community, but he enjoys a healthy debate as a means of reaching good decisions.

“I'm good at changing my mind. I'm good at speaking my mind,” he said during a recent forum.

Enochs grew up in Dallas and spent a professional lifetime living in the U.S. and abroad. He moved to Libertyville 12 years ago.

“My decision to run was not based on the fact I thought we had problems here,” he said.

Enochs said he has “all the knowledge and expertise” to be an effective representative for the community and is getting to a point where his professional life isn't as intense.

“I have time to throw myself into things I truly care about outside of work, and there's nothing I care about more than Libertyville and certainly the future of this village,” he says in a campaign video.

He said surrounding communities are getting stronger, and he will prioritize maintaining the health of small businesses that make the village special.

Dominguez said she's a public servant and lifelong volunteer who has worked for the federal government for 20 years. As a trustee, Dominguez says she would listen to the community to determine “what's important to them, not what's important to me.”

The village should focus more on supporting small and mid-sized business with 50/50 grants of $5,000 or less for technical assistance and larger grants to attract new or help existing businesses expand, she said.

Dominguez said all new housing construction should include energy efficient “attainable” units. She also advocates for stronger energy sustainability with solar panels on village-owned buildings and more vehicle charging stations in town.