Bullwinkel rolls to easy victory in Villa Park

Villa Park Trustee Deborah Bullwinkel defeated the village’s former police chief to become the next village president, according to unofficial results from Tuesday’s election.

Bullwinkel received 2,421 votes Tuesday, while opponent John Heidelmeier received 755. In May, she will be sworn in to succeed Village President Tom Cullerton, who did not seek re-election after winning the 23rd District seat in the state Senate.

Bullwinkel, a 44-year-old self-employed communications consultant, has been on the board since 2009. She said her first actions as village president will be to draw the board together and begin working on a strategic plan.

“That’s going to be our blueprint,” she said.

Bullwinkel says Villa Park is on the right track toward economic development, but the town has been rocked recently by the release of documents explaining the reasons Heidelmeier was removed as police chief in January 2012, and by a photo showing Heidelmeier that surfaced on a pornographic video chat site during the campaign.

Bullwinkel said restoring leadership and communication between the village president and trustees will help prevent future issues.

Also in Tuesday’s election, Robert Wagner, Robert Taglia and Tony Gurdak won three available trustee seats, beating four other candidates in a seven-way race, according to unofficial results.