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Incumbents returning to Mount Prospect village board

Three Mount Prospect village board incumbents are set to return to their seats, according to unofficial results.

With 30 of 34 precincts reporting, Colleen Saccotelli had 2,658 votes, Paul Hoefert had 2,655 and Richard Rogers had 2,293, the results show.

Trailing behind them were Yulia Bjekic with 2,274 and Augie Filippone with 1,277, according to the returns.

Mount Prospect's trustee race hinged to a large degree on the development of the village's downtown, which has seen such changes as the approval of multifamily developments as 20 West in the village's small triangle and the apartments at Main and Central on the old Central Plaza shopping center.

But the development that may have played a larger part was the Maple Street Lofts, a mix of apartments, row homes and retail, as well as a commuter parking deck, on the former Parenti and Raffaelli property on Prospect Avenue near the Metra commuter station.

One of the candidates who helped pave the way for its possible approval Wednesday night by the village board was Filippone, who not only recommended approval by voting but went to bat for the developer, Nicholas and Associates in front of a largely hostile crowd at the planning and zoning commission.

The other challenger was Bjekic, a certified public accountant who has attended many meetings as a resident and been critical of the village's TIF district and its financial policies. She said she wanted to encourage citizen engagement.

The incumbents presided over much of the development taking place downtown, while encouraging further development by voting to move the downtown fire and police headquarters.

Hoefert, the board's senior trustee, provided a questioning voice on the board, often jousting with Mayor Arlene Juracek, particularly when he criticized the move of the fire station and suggested it be put to referendum.

The sixth candidate was a write-in, Jeff Nejdl, a 23-year-old whose experience includes student government at Harper College.

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