Dozens of school board candidates file in DuPage
Jennifer Planson admits she was expecting to find "a ton of people and chaos" on Monday morning when she filed her nomination papers seeking re-election to the Hinsdale High School District 86 school board.
The incumbent from Willowbrook discovered neither scenario was the case when school board candidates filed for the first time at the DuPage County Election Commission office in Wheaton for a spot on the April election ballot.
"It was well organized," Planson said after she and her running mates, Bill Carpenter and Kathleen Hirsman, submitted their paperwork. "It (the line) moved quickly."
While Planson and nearly 50 other school board candidates were in line when the election commission opened at 8 a.m., she was done and getting a cup of coffee by 8:30 a.m. "It was quick and easy," she said.
In addition to school board candidates, hopefuls for municipal, park district, library and fire district offices on Monday started filing paperwork to get on the April 7 ballot. The weeklong filing period ends Dec. 22.
But unlike other local offices, school board candidates no longer file with the governmental entity they hope to represent.
The transfer of filing responsibility from school districts to election authorities was done as part of a state law enacted over the summer.
Bob Marino, an incumbent on the Lake Park High School District 108 school board, said the change made things "a little more difficult" for candidates.
"At the same time, you do what you have to do," said Marino, who traveled from Roselle to Wheaton to get the third place in line around 6:45 a.m.
Bob Brown, an incumbent on the Winfield Elementary District 34 school board, said he preferred filing at the district office.
"One thing that was advantageous is you were able to get a handle on how many people had taken out papers and who had filed," Brown said. "So you kind of had an idea whether the seats were all being filled or not. Now we have no idea. There may be an open seat that we're not even aware of."
Brown arrived at 6:45 a.m. to secure the second place in line and the opportunity for the top spot on the ballot.
All the candidates who were in line when the election commission opened on Monday had their papers stamped as 8 a.m. If more than one candidate seeking the same office filed at the same time, a lottery will be conducted to determine whose name will appear first on the ballot.