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Two village board candidates back on election ballot in South Elgin

The race for South Elgin village board is again contested, after a Kane County judge reinstated two candidates on the April 2 election ballot.

Candidates Bill DiFulvio and Shane Hamilton had been thrown off ballot last month after an electoral board unanimously ruled in favor of objections to their nominating papers. The objections stated the candidates wrongly listed village hall's address as their own.

Kane County Circuit Court Judge Kevin Busch overruled the electoral board's decision Friday, said attorney Jeff Meyer, who represented DiFulvio and Hamilton. Meyer had argued the standard calls for reviewing nominating papers as a whole. His clients listed their proper address on the nominating papers, just not on the header, Meyer said.

Hamilton and DiFulvio said Sunday they felt great about the judge's decision. Trustees Scott Richmond, Lisa Guess and Mike Kolodziej also are running for three open seats.

"It was a silly mistake," DiFulvio said.

Hamilton agreed. "Does it sound like a really stupid mistake? Absolutely. But when you look at the form, it's not as clear-cut as it sounds."

The objections were filed by resident Paula Trigger, who said she won't appeal the judge's decision.

"My intention was not to throw anybody off a ballot. My intention was to bring attention to the fact that these things were not being looked at," she said, adding she endorses giving voters a choice.

Trigger said residents should be represented by trustees who live throughout town, so it's important to list correct addresses on petitions.

"If these people can't even fill out form and they are going to sit there making decisions I have to live by, I was concerned," she said.

DiFulvio, a former trustee, and Hamilton, a former parks and recreation supervisor, said they believe Trigger was asked to file the objections by someone else.

Trigger denied that.

South Elgin village board candidate Shane Hamilton, shown here, is back on the ballot, along with fellow candidate Bill DiFulvio, after a judge overturned an electoral board's decision to remove them.
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