Incumbents win new terms on Mt. Prospect board

Mount Prospect voters gave their tacit endorsement Tuesday to the work their local government is doing, re-electing three incumbents to the village board.

With 34 of 34 precincts reporting, trustees John Matuszak, Steven Polit and Michael Zadel were the top vote-getters in Tuesday’s consolidated election, earning 2,128, 1,868 and 1,630 votes, respectively, according to unofficial totals.

John Dyslin, one of the three challengers in the race, received 1,276 votes, while Kevin Grouwinkel got 1,131 and Carl Arriaza received 1,002.

“This is a solid board, we make good hard decisions and we’re very happy with the results of this election,” Polit said Tuesday night. “I look at this as a vote of confidence in our board.”

During the campaign, the incumbents pointed to stable village property tax rates and successes like the Randhurst Village development as reasons why they should be re-elected. Dyslin and Arriaza challenged those claims, saying taxes are too high in Mount Prospect and that the incumbents had not shown enough leadership. Grouwinkel refrained from attacking the incumbents, focusing instead on issues like downtown redevelopment.

Despite the incumbents’ victory, there will be some change on the board in the near future. Trustee Arlene Juracek ran unopposed Tuesday for the mayor’s post. She will vacate her trustee seat to take over for outgoing Mayor Irvana Wilks and the board will appoint someone to fill the remainder of her term.