Acting Crystal Lake mayor announces bid for upcoming election

Acting Crystal Lake Mayor Haig Haleblian, who was appointed to the role following Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley’s death in May, announced Monday that he will run to keep the seat in the upcoming 2021 special election.

The winner elected in April’s special election will serve until the 2023 consolidated election, which is when Shepley's term would have expired. If five or more people submit the paperwork necessary to run for mayor, a primary will be held to see who continues on to the April election.

Candidates running with an established political party or who are running for a nonpartisan municipal office must submit nomination papers, including a signed petition between Nov. 16 and Nov. 23, according to the state board of elections. All other candidates, including those running independently or with a new political party, must submit their completed nomination papers between Dec. 14 and Dec. 21.

Local election officials must certify the candidates running for each office within their jurisdictions with the McHenry County Clerk's Office by Jan. 28.

The Crystal Lake City Council unanimously appointed Haleblian to take over as acting mayor in May following Shepley’s death. Shepley had been the city’s longest-serving mayor.

Haleblian has been a member of the Crystal Lake City Council since 2017. Before that, he was a member of the city’s Economic Development Committee from 2008 to 2017 and served as the committee’s chairman for two years.

Haleblian is a first-generation American son of immigrant parents who graduated from Southern Illinois University, according to a news release. He moved to Crystal Lake in 1980 and is married to Hawley. They have four children and five grandchildren.

“Mayor Shepley did such a wonderful job of promoting the city and doing the right thing,” Haleblian told the Northwest Herald in an interview Monday. “I plan to do more of the same.”

One goal of Haleblian’s, if elected to a new term, is to continue planning for new commercial and retail development, while also retaining businesses currently in Crystal Lake.

On the corner of Crystal Lake Avenue and Main Street, Haleblian said he’d like to see a multi-use building where there's retail on the first floor and then apartments or condominiums above.

Haleblian took office a couple months after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which he said to describe as challenging, would be an understatement.

“The analogy I'd use is it's like drinking out of a firehose,” he said.

One of the biggest challenges for Haleblian, he said, has been finding a way to keep businesses open, while also keeping everyone safe.

“It's a high-wire act,” he said.

However, Haleblian said having a good city staff and council has helped.

“We're all pulling in the same direction,” he said. “And that direction is really for the betterment of the citizens of Crystal Lake.”

Haleblian currently owns Crystal Lake's Exceed Floor & Home, and as a small business owner, Haleblian said he has a good pulse on the community.

According to a news release, Regan Shepley, wife of late Mayor Aaron Shepley, said she thinks Haleblian is the best person to lead the city.

She said when her husband announced his candidacy, he said, "The role of the mayor should not be to force his vision on the people. It should be to have the vision to know what the people want."

“As a councilman, Haig has embraced that same leadership philosophy — listening to his community, and working to turn ideas into actions and problems into solutions,” Regan Shepley said in a statement. “More than ever, our community needs a leader committed to doing the hard work necessary for the City to thrive in these challenging times. Haig has and will continue to steer the city in a smooth and innovative direction.”

Bob Blazier, "Mr. Crystal Lake," who had been a Crystal Lake District 47 superintendent before leading the town's Chamber of Commerce, also endorsed Haleblian.

“I have known Haig for a very long time as a friend, and a long time businessman in our community with the highest ethics and standards,” Blazier said in a statement. “I still mourn the untimely loss of Mayor Aaron Shepley, but am confident that Haig will carry on Aaron's legacy of love and commitment for our wonderful community.”

Former state Rep. Mike Tryon, McHenry County Board member Pam Althoff and City Council members Ellen Brady, Cathy Ferguson, Ian Philpot, Brett Hopkins, Cameron Hubbard, Mandy Montford, among others, endorsed Haleblian as well, according to the release.