January 05, 2025
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Fox River Fire District knocks candidate off April 1 ballot

Attorney: Boveri failed to fasten his nominating papers as required by law

By Brenda Schory
Residents served by the Fox River & Countryside Fire Rescue District will be asked if they support the district’s plan to sell up to $13 million in general obligation bonds in part to build a new fire station and replacing aging vehicles and equipment.

Residents served by the Fox River & Countryside Fire Rescue District will be asked if they support the district’s plan to sell up to $13 million in general obligation bonds in part to build a new fire station and replacing aging vehicles and equipment. (Photo provided )

The old saying “For want of a nail, a shoe was lost,” could be updated to “For want of a staple, the candidacy was lost.”

Election officials at the Fox River and Countryside Fire Rescue District in St. Charles Township will not certify a candidate for the April 1 consolidated election ballot because he did not fasten his nominating papers together as required by state law.

Campton Hills resident John Boveri said he turned in his nominating papers Nov. 12.

“I like to be active and do something,” Boveri said. “I’d like to contribute to my community.”

Boveri said he has served on the Campton Township Solid Waste District trustee board and the Campton Hills Public Works Committee.

John Boveri

John Boveri John Boveri (Kim Ayars Photography/Kim Ayars Photography)

Boveri received a letter dated Dec. 9 from the fire district’s attorney John Motylinski, telling him that election officials will not certify his name to be printed on the ballot because he did not follow the Illinois Election Code to have his papers fastened together.

The three-page letter also cites case law and the specifics of how candidates should file their nominating sheets, which “shall be neatly fastened together in book form, by placing the sheets in a pile and fastening them together at one edge in a secure and suitable manner, and the sheets shall then be numbered consecutively.”

“Unfortunately, this does not comply with Section 10-4 of the Illinois Election Code, which precludes the District’s local election officials from certifying your name to be printed on the ballot,” according to Motylinski’s letter to Boveri.

The state’s election codes requires local election officials to serve as “a gatekeeper to turn away nominating papers that do not even purport to conform to the law,” according to Motylinski’s letter.

This calls for local election officials to examine nominating papers to determine if they conform with state law, according to his letter.

Local election officials at the fire district are Fire Chief Michael Hill, Deputy Chief James Niesel and Administrative Coordinator Tracy Dunklau, as designated Oct. 3, according to Motylinski’s letter.

Hill referred questions to the district’s lawyer. Motylinski declined to comment, saying his letter to Boveri is self-explanatory.

“I will be consulting with an attorney tomorrow to determine my options regarding candidacy for the Fox River & Countryside Fire/Rescue District,” Bovari said in an email.

Hill, Niesel and Dunklau have until Jan. 23 to certify candidates for the April 1 ballot, according to the state’s election schedule.

Other candidates who filed nominating papers to serve on the fire district’s board of trustees are James Gaffney of St. Charles Township, Thomas Kennedy of Wayne and incumbent Pamela Turriff of St. Charles Township.

The fire district, which was established in 2011, serves more than 25,000 residents over 38 square miles in Kane and DuPage counties, Its primary response areas are in unincorporated St. Charles and Campton townships and the incorporated villages of Campton Hills and Wayne.

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