Soto wins second term as Bensenville village president

Bensenville Village President Frank Soto says he’s been able to change his community for the better over the past four years, and he wants to continue that progress in the next four.

Soto was elected to a second term Tuesday, defeating one-time political ally Oronzo Peconio and park board member Rich Johnson. Soto tallied 1,176 votes, with Peconio receiving 789 and Johnson garnering 514, according to unofficial results.

Soto, who unseated 24-year incumbent Village President John Geils in 2009, pointed to progress he says the village has made, including increased sales tax revenues, 152 new businesses and balanced budgets.

Soto said the village is now working to complete its comprehensive plan and then begin to pursue development opportunities in the downtown area.

“The majority of voters in Bensenville have been through elections before, and they’re able to read through fiction,” Soto said. “They understand the town has rebounded in four years.”

Though Peconio ran on Soto’s slate in 2009, he said Soto’s administration soon “got off the wagon,” having awarded high salaries for village management staff while overseeing a slow rate of economic development.

Johnson, a 12-year member of the Bensenville Park District board, promised to bring “a level of choice” to the election, though his opponents tried to tie him to Geils, since his wife was on the village board when Geils was village president.

In village board races, Soto’s three-member Changed Bensenville slate defeated Peconio’s Bensenville First slate.