Mount Prospect mayor looking for candidate with 'reasoned approach' to serve on board
With Mount Prospect Trustee Peggy Pissarreck stepping down from the village board next month, Mayor Paul Hoefert faces the task of making his second trustee appointment in just over 12 months on the job.
Hoefert said Pissarreck has informed him she plans to serve through the board's May 17 meeting. He'll then appoint someone to fill her seat until voters choose a successor in the April 2023 election.
The mayor leaned toward experience in April 2021 when he appointed former trustee John Matuszak to replace fill his seat board, vacated when Hoefert was sworn in as mayor.
But he said he won't disqualify anyone who lacks prior board service.
"Certainly I would be looking to a strong person who has only the best interests of the village in mind," Hoefert said. "It doesn't have to be necessarily somebody that's been on the board, but certainly depth and a logical approach, a reasoned approach."
He said a number of interested residents have reached out, and he's reached out to a few people as well.
"I'm obviously developing the shortlist, and then I'll pick someone off that list," he added.
Hoefert said he expects to present his choice in early June. Asked about the possibility of pushback from members of a board that has been polarized on such issues as the police patch and committee appointments, he said, "so be it.
"I just want somebody who is, again, logical and intelligent and has only the best interests of the village involved," he said.