Glen Ellyn Trustee Ladesic running as write-in but won't campaign

Glen Ellyn Trustee Pete Ladesic has filed as a write-in candidate in the April 2 election, but he says he's not actively campaigning against the three candidates endorsed by the village's Civic Betterment Party whose names will appear on the ballot.

Ladesic was planning to step down after three terms to pave the way for new faces on the village board, keeping a "soft promise" he said he made at the time of his last re-election bid four years ago.

Appearing on the April ballot are three candidates - incumbent Mark Senak, Kelli Christiansen and Steve Thompson - who earned the Civic Betterment Party nod for three open trustee spots. The party slate emerged after a caucus-style town hall in December.

Ladesic said he decided to file as a write-in only after Senak abruptly announced he was resigning during a village board debate over a large-scale downtown apartment development at a Jan. 28 meeting.

Rather than cast a vote on the project, Senak announced he was stepping down from his "remaining term" and walked away from the board dais. But he still needed to satisfy several legal requirements to officially step down, and the next day he told the Daily Herald he was still running as a candidate in the uncontested April 2 race.

Ladesic said Senak's future as an April candidate appeared "up in the air" and two days after the board meeting, Ladesic declared his write-in candidacy with the DuPage County Election Commission - the last day write-in candidates must submit a declaration of intent.

Ladesic said he emailed Senak in response to his resignation and told him he had submitted his name as a write-in in case Senak was going to withdraw from seeking a second term.

Senak later reversed course and announced he would serve the rest of his term after all.

Ladesic on Thursday said he's not mounting a campaign, but he's heard that a group of residents want to campaign on his behalf. Write-in candidates don't have to gather petition signatures, but supporters have to manually write in the hopeful's name on the ballot.

Ladesic, a homebuilder, said if he had wanted to run against the three candidates, he would have filed as an independent. He won a third term in 2015 without the Civic Betterment backing, duplicating a feat he accomplished in 2007.

Ladesic also said he plans on running for village president when that post is up for election in 2021.