Mayor chooses candidate to fill Rolling Meadows council slot

The vacant slot on the Rolling Meadows City Council will be filled Feb. 12 if alderman agree to the nominee selected by Mayor Tom Rooney.

Local real estate agent Laura Majikes is set to fill the roll of 3rd Ward alderman following the death of Larry Buske. Rooney notified aldermen of his selection following interviews with six candidates. A seventh candidate withdrew.

Rooney said Majikes stood out during the interview because she was well spoken and had the best working knowledge of how the city council functions and the current issues it faces.

“We need somebody who can get up to speed as quickly as possible,” Rooney said Saturday. “Normally when someone wants to be on the council, they sit in our peanut gallery for several months to get up to speed. This person doesn’t have that opportunity.”

Majikes is a 22-year resident of Rolling Meadows. She and her husband, John, are the co-owners of JML Overhead Door Inc., a garage door and opener company. The business has performed work for the city in the past. In Rooney’s memo to aldermen, he said Majikes’ service on the council would not preclude her company from doing future business with the city. However, she would abstain from any votes that would benefit her financially.

Rooney said he expects all the current alderman will have had plenty of time to investigate Majikes’ qualifications by the Feb. 12 council meeting.

“Usually if the aldermen have an issue, they would let me know ahead of time,” Rooney said. “I’m not committing any of them to anything, but I can say the nomination has been out there for about a week now, and no one has said anything to this point that would make me think the nomination is in jeopardy.”

Rooney said the other candidates were Janet Mintz, Mark Stastny, Kevin O’Brien, Jack Eleftheriou and Todd Koscielak.