Newcomers unseat two Mundelein village trustees
Mundelein trustees Scott Black and Bill Rekus lost re-election bids Tuesday, unseated by challengers Kara Lambert and Erich Schwenk.
Incumbent Kerston Russell won the third seat to retain his post.
Lambert led the race for three seats with 4-year terms with 1,295 votes, unofficial results showed. Schwenk finished second with 1,248 votes and Russell placed third with 1,120 votes.
Black tallied 1,110 votes for a fourth-place finish, and Rekus rounded out the pack with 971 votes.
Although not an official slate, Lambert and Schwenk campaigned together. Both in their 30s, they were the youngest candidates in the race by decades and they'll be the youngest trustees on the board.
Lambert, a sales and service manager for the Goldfish Swim School, believes their relative youth helped her and Schwenk on Election Day.
"We both have young families," she said. "We look (like) Mundelein looks."
Lambert objected to some of the lawsuits Mundelein has faced recently and hopes to be more cautious with the money spent on legal issues.
She also is concerned about retail vacancies in town and wants to work to fill some of those storefronts.
Schwenk, a flight attendant with Southwest Airlines who also owns a small business, said he "couldn't be more excited" about the election results.
Looking forward, Schwenk said he's focused on fixing Mundelein's infrastructure issues, whether it's improving storm and sanitary sewers or adding curbs and sidewalks to streets without them.
Russell, who was first elected to the board in 2015, is the owner of several local businesses. He said he'll continue promoting Mundelein as a business-friendly community in his next term.
Black will leave the board next month after nearly two years of service. He was appointed to fill a vacancy.
Rekus has served for one 4-year term.