Grayslake man must wait another week on ballot dispute

Grayslake resident Michael Francq remains on hold in his effort to appear on the April 7 ballot as a trustee candidate.

Francq thought a Lake County judge would decide Tuesday on his appeal of the village electoral board decision to boot him from the ballot, but the case was continued to March 2. He said time is getting tight to run a trustee campaign.

Village attorney Victor Filippini Jr., who represented the Grayslake electoral board in court Tuesday, said Francq has himself to blame for Lake County Circuit Judge David Hall postponing the hearing to next week.

Filippini said Francq's complaint against the board did not contain - as promised - the entire record of the hearing that resulted in him being removed from the ballot. He labeled as a "silly notion" Francq's claim the village sought the delay for political purposes.

On Feb. 7, a majority of the three-member electoral board ruled Francq's nominating petitions were flawed, and kicked him off the ballot. The hearing occurred after Grayslake resident Virginia Russell challenged Francq's documents.

Francq, acting as his own attorney, filed the appeal last week in Lake County circuit court seeking a reversal of the decision. He contends his petitions were sufficiently compliant with state law.

Mayor Timothy Perry, who chaired the electoral board, and Clerk Cynthia Lee found one page in Francq's documents stated he was running in the "April 17, 2007," election. That presented a risk of misleading voters, they said in finding the signatures on that page invalid.

Francq's nominating petitions were found to have 92 valid signatures, short of the minimum 96 required for the ballot. Trustee Jeff Werfel dissented in the 2-1 decision, stating the errors weren't enough to confuse voters who signed the petitions.

Francq said time is running out for him to run a viable trustee campaign. He said he thought Hall could have issued a ruling Tuesday.

"To say the village wanted to delay this thing further is not a surprise at all," Francq said.

Perry said he read Francq's appeal and found it lacking.

"After reviewing it, it was obvious what he provided in the appeal was incomplete and incorrect," Perry said.

If Francq is reinstated on the ballot, it'll be a five-way race for three, 4-year trustee seats. Already on the ballot are incumbents Bruce Bassett, Amy Edwards and Shawn Vogel, with newcomer Quin O'Brien.

Francq contends the petition challenge was an attempt to make it easier for the incumbents to retain their positions.