District 57 board member running as a write-in for Mount Prospect trustee

A Mount Prospect Elementary School District 57 school board member is running for the Mount Prospect village board as a write-in candidate.

The announcement by Brian Maye, whose term on the school board expires in April, means the village trustee race is now contested.

There originally were four candidates set to be on the April 6 ballot, but incumbent Trustee Eleni Hatzis withdrew after her nominating petitions were challenged.

That left Augie Filippone and the slate of Terri Gens and Peggy Pissarreck, who prevailed last week in a challenge to their petitions, as the three remaining candidates.

Maye said Hatzis' withdrawal and the challenge against Gens and Pissarreck factored in his decision.

"But I saw that Eleni withdrew her candidacy and then two candidates were being challenged and there was the potential they would be removed from the ballot. So you would have one person running for three seats," he said. "So all of that accelerated my decision-making regarding running for village board."

Maye said another factor was having achieved his goal of seeing District 57's 2018 referendum pass.

"I ran mostly to address the financial issues they had," he said. "They were underfunded, and it seemed to me that the community wasn't aware of that. So I ran on that issue, to make sure the referendum was passed."

Maye, an attorney who handles defense litigation for the aviation industry and served in the Navy and the Peace Corps, said he would like to see the village continue its downtown redevelopment. He also has a vision of Mount Prospect as a family-centric community, attracting more young families.

He added he supports the vision of Mayor Arlene Juracek, who is serving her last term and has been "a steadying force for the village."