Here's your chance to help Carpentersville

How many times have you heard or read about the issues facing Carpentersville and thought "I wish I could do something about that?"

There are certainly plenty to choose from. Immigration, retail development, street improvement, community beautification, gang awareness, crime prevention, and taxes are just some of the challenges facing our civil servants.

Right now, waiting in neatly piled stacks in the village hall are election packets. On April 7, an election will be held to fill upcoming vacant seats on the village board of directors. Up for grabs are the four-year term for village president as well as three open seats for a four-year term for village trustee.

Here's your chance to do your civic duty.

Village Clerk Terri Wilde, who organizes all of this information, said that interested residents have already started picking up election packets. Anyone wishing to run for a position must be a Carpentersville resident for at least one year before the election.

One of the tasks required to run is compiling a petition of signatures of Carpentersville residents that are registered to vote. This year, not less than 148 and no more than 235 signatures will be required.

Wilde explained that that number is based on the number of ballots cast at the last election in 2007, which was 2,946. She added that most candidates go door to door in the community to collect the signatures.

There is other paperwork that is required to be filed such as a statement of candidacy, a receipt for filing a statement of economic interests, and an optional loyalty oath. All of this information can be picked up at village hall or downloaded from the village Web site at www.vil.carpentersville.il.us.

All paperwork must be filed between Jan. 19 - Jan. 26. According to Wilde, the order in which the paperwork is filed is the order the names are placed on the ballot.

The job description of the president and trustees can be found within Carpentersville's Municipal code, but is vague. To get a bit of an idea of what is involved, consider attending a village board meeting. The village board of trustees meets on the first and third Tuesday of every month at 7:30 p.m. in the board room of the village hall. You can also watch them every Friday evening at 7 p.m. on Comcast cable channel 17. The village president has a salary of $12,000 per year and a trustee's salary is $6,000 per year.

For information, call Terri Wilde at (847) 426-3439, ext. 292.

If you have any news about your club, school, church, business, neighbor, or even yourself, contact Kirstin Finneran by cell at (312) 518-4993 or e-mail at kirstinfinneran@comcast.net.