McDonnell ousts incumbent Pino in North Barrington mayor's race

Eleanor Sweet McDonnell has ousted two-term North Barrington Village President Albert Pino, according to unofficial results from Tuesday's election.

"I had made it a personal goal in January to walk every single weekend and to meet 300 residents that I did know not before my campaign," she said Tuesday night. "I listened to a lot of people, and there was a feeling out there that it was time for change."

With all precincts counted, Sweet McDonnell had 393 votes to Pino's 263. Only provisional and late-arriving mail ballots were uncounted.

It was the first contested race for Pino, who has been village president since 2011 and served six years as a trustee before that.

Sweet McDonnell, who made an unsuccessful bid for the Lake County Board last fall, has been a longtime member of North Barrington's fire and plan commissions.

North Barrington's budget was among the issues that arose during the campaign.

Sweet McDonnell said she's concerned about what she called an unbalanced budget. She said audits show budget deficits of $614,138 in 2018 and $599,680 in 2017.

However, Pino said how the budget appears and what's spent are not the same. He added that North Barrington's budget reserves have grown to about $3 million.

North Barrington's last contested village president race was in 2007, when Bruce Sauer defeated Carolyn Boyle to win his second 4-year term. Sauer decided against seeking a third term, which opened the door for Pino to run unopposed in 2011 and 2015.