Write-ins to decide Mount Prospect board race

What Mount Prospect voters see is not necessarily what they will get April 4 when they look at their ballots in the race for village board.

Just two candidates - incumbent Michael Zadel and newcomer Bill Grossi - are on the ballot for three open trustee seats. But there are three write-in candidates as well, Eleni Hatzis, Walter Szymczak and former longtime board member A. John Korn.

Zadel, a retired roadway maintenance manager for the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, has been on the village board 16 years. He said his desire for another four-year term stems from the "exciting things occurring in the village."

"I think the advent of the (Prospect and Main Tax Increment Financing district) promises to bring development to both the existing and additional areas within our downtown," he said. "That's been an area that I have always wanted to accomplish since I got on the board. And I think we're probably closer to it now than we have been ever during my tenure, so that's something I want to see through to fruition."

Grossi, an attorney who specializes in tax and estate planning, said he can bring his background into board discussions of village finances to "look beyond the numbers to make sure we're not overspending." He cites as an example the village's $6.5 million settlement in 2014 to a federal lawsuit brought by the owner of the now closed Ye Olde Town Inn.

"A lot of us were not real happy with (the settlement)," he said.

Two of the write-in candidates have not held public office, although Hatzis has worked in Cook County government as an executive assistant to the chief deputy treasurer. Hatzis, who grew up in Mount Prospect and graduated from Prospect High School, said she will be able to bring a fresh face to the board and would push for more community involvement and family-oriented events in town.

Szymczak, a 29-year resident of the village, is retired from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, which employed him as a purchasing agent and contract specialist. He holds a master's degree in public administration from Roosevelt University, with a concentration on city management.

He said he favors the new TIF and is interested in the Central Plaza development at Route 83 and Central Road, where a moribund strip center was demolished.

"I'm glad that the village stepped in and finally said, 'Look, if no one claims this area, we are going to go to court and get hold of it,'" he said. "That's what the village did, and it made good sense."

Korn, a 48-year village resident, lost the village board seat he held for a decade in the 2015 election. When he announced his intention to run a write-in campaign, he said he had concerns about downtown redevelopment and the new expanded TIF district.

"It's really imperative, I feel, to go ahead and get an active partner to this," he said, adding that he's been a proponent of annexing property into the village and balancing the budget.