Spring elections among 2009 news highlights

The fall elections that dominated the news in 2008 will be hard to match in 2009.

Still, the upcoming year will have its share of surprises and developments that will impact everything from the roads you drive on to the schools your children attend.

With the last election cycle still fresh in our memories, candidates across northern Kane and southeastern McHenry counties are already gearing up for 2009.

Dozens of incumbents and challengers will face off for positions in school, municipal and township government in the spring.

In Elgin, seven challengers are hoping to unseat three incumbents on the Elgin City Council. Council members Robert Gilliam, Juan Figueroa and John Walters are all seeking re-election.

Three of seven seats will be up on the Elgin Area School District U-46 school board.

Three seats are also up for grabs on the Community Unit District 300 school board. District 300 board member Mary Warren has already announced she won't run in 2009.

In neighboring Huntley Unit District 158, only two of the District 158 school board's seven seats will not be up for election in the spring.

The board's three officers - President Shawn Green, Vice President Tony Quagliano and Secretary Kim Skaja - as well as former board President Mike Skala and Larry Snow, are all up for re-election.

South Elgin Mayor Jim Hansen, Algonquin Mayor John Schmidt, Huntley Mayor Chuck Sass and Lake in the Hills Mayor Ed Plaza are among the local village officials up for re-election.

Schools face challenges

Area schools will continue to fight the battle for more state funding in 2009 as the state faces a budget crunch and struggles to pay its bills, including some payments to schools.

Local school officials are crossing their fingers that the state will be able to fully fund areas like transportation and special education in 2009.

Many schools with large bilingual populations - especially those in districts U-46 and 300 - will continue to have difficulties with new state standards that prevent bilingual students from taking a different test from their English-speaking peers.

Schools across the board will face challenges as the percentage of students who must meet standards for a school to get a passing grade rises in 2009.

These two testing quirks taken together mean that even if scores continue to rise in area schools, more schools may land on the list of "failing" schools this year.

Still, area school districts are hoping to build on the success they saw in 2008 - especially at the high schools. In 2008, ACT scores rose in districts U-46, 300 and 158 - where average scores rose by at least a point in two of the four areas tested.

Officials in the districts hope a new focus on high school achievement, including programs like freshman academies and test preparation classes, will continue the upward trend in 2009.

Despite the housing downturn, local schools will continue to deal with space issues in 2009. District 300 will build new capacity on its east side with additions to Parkview and Golfview elementary schools, while District 158 will explore options for expanding Huntley High School.

The segregation lawsuit that has cost District U-46 millions of dollars since 2005 will drag on into 2009, with settlement talks in the case - granted class-action status in 2008 - expected to continue in the new year.

Declining revenue

Towns that are dependent on sales tax and building permit revenue - including West Dundee, Carpentersville, Algonquin and Huntley - face tight 2009 budgets as homebuilders file for bankruptcy and revenue from the sagging retail sector declines.

Questions are hanging over Elgin's budget as the recession, a statewide smoking ban and a new casino slated for Des Plaines cut into the bottom line of the Grand Victoria Casino, a major source of revenue for the city.

Kane County government faces further layoffs and cost-cutting if the economy doesn't recover this year.

In hopes of reversing the sales tax trend, some local towns will pursue new revenue in the new year.

Huntley is set to benefit from hundreds of thousands in sales tax revenue when Wal-Mart opens in the village in the spring, while West Dundee is awaiting the outcome of a lawsuit delaying the opening of a Wal-Mart near Spring Hill Mall.

Officials in East and West Dundee are hoping special taxing districts will lure new businesses and spur redevelopment.

Some towns have raised or considered raising the taxes residents will pay in 2009, while cutting back on spending.

On the plus side, long-festering infrastructure upgrades, including new bridges across the Fox River and the widening of Route 47, may finally get off the ground as part of a sweeping public works program proposed by the incoming Obama administration.

Marquee cases continue

The cases that got local residents talking in 2008 will continue to provoke debate in 2009.

In Kane County, Erika Scoliere of St. Charles is expected to go on trial to contest a charge of reckless homicide stemming from a 2007 crash that killed 40-year-old Frank Ferraro.

Charges may be forthcoming in the case of an Elgin woman suspected of using nude photos of her daughter's 13-year-old ex-boyfriend to blackmail him into reconciling with her daughter.

In McHenry County, pardoned death-row inmate Gary Gauger's lawsuit against three former McHenry County Sheriff's detectives is set to go to trial in May. Gauger has accused the detectives of framing him for his parents' murders.

In February, Julian Palomo of Lake in the Hills is set to go to trial on charges he murdered his three-month-old nephew.

• Staff writers Lenore Adkins, Larissa Chinwah, Harry Hitzeman, Chuck Keeshan, Kerry Lester and Josh Stockinger contributed to this report.