Mayoral, 3rd Ward races emerge in Prospect Heights
This story has been updated to reflect the employment status of Betty Cloud.
Prospect Heights voters will face contested mayoral and 3rd Ward races based on candidates who have announced so far for the April 2 municipal elections.
Current Ward 2 Alderman Lawrence "Larry" Rosenthal said he will challenge Mayor Nick Helmer's bid for re-election.
For Ward 3 alderman, current City Clerk Wendy Morgan-Adams and recent Chicago Executive Airport board member and former Prospect Heights Convention & Visitors Bureau chair Elizabeth "Betty" Cloud have announced their candidacies.
Both Rosenthal and Cloud called for greater transparency in local government in their announcements.
Morgan-Adams said she decided to run for alderman because she believes it's the best office for her to utilize her knowledge of the city where she's lived for more than 30 years.
Morgan-Adams is an attorney who has been practicing in the area for 38 years, representing clients on municipal and zoning issues.
She also serves on the city's Strategic Directions Committee, was on the committee to revamp Prospect Heights' website and represented the city on the chamber of commerce board of directors and on the Northwest Municipal Conference's legislative committee.
Morgan-Adams is past president and longtime member of the board of directors of the Rotary Club of Mount Prospect/Prospect Heights.
Cloud said she's been a resident for 37 years and held many volunteer positions at city hall from 1995 to 2011. She previously was marketing and development director of St. Alphonsus Liguori Parish for 2½ years and has been in the travel industry for more than 45 years.
Rosenthal is a 26-year resident of the city and retired association executive who now owns a consulting firm that provides services to trade associations and tax-exempt foundations.
Prospect Heights voters will have a local choice to make on the Nov. 6 ballot as well, with city officials seeking home-rule authority in a referendum.
Helmer has said home rule would give Prospect Heights the ability to redirect about $750,000 from its hotel tax and increased licensing of video gambling toward flooding and drainage projects.
This will be the fourth time in the 21st century city officials have asked the public for home-rule authority. The request was rejected in 2004, 2008 and 2012, but each time won more support from voters.
Fear that the city will create a property tax has been a leading criticism of past home-rule efforts, Helmer said. He added that even when he tells a concerned resident that a property tax is not his intention, the response often is that home rule would give a future board that authority.
Two upcoming town-hall meetings on the referendum will be moderated by the local chapter of the Northwest Suburban League of Women Voters.
The meetings will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24, at Prospect Heights' city hall, 8 N. Elmhurst Road, and at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30, at Gary Morava Recreational Center, 110 W. Camp McDonald Road.