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YORKVILLE – Four incumbents dominated the voting among 12 candidates in the first-ever election Tuesday for trustees to the Bristol-Kendall Fire Protection District board.
Unofficial vote totals for the five available seats up for election show that President Ken Johnson and trustees Marty Schwartz, Jeff Farren and Gary Schlapp were elected.
A rival slate of five candidates did not fare as well, with only Darrin Peterson securing a seat on the board.
Leading the balloting was Schlapp with 1,605 votes, followed by Johnson with 1,461 votes, Farren with 1,426 and Schwartz with 1,363. Peterson picked up 1,308 votes, enough for a fifth place finish.
The other four candidates running with Peterson included Scott Harmon with 1,044 votes, Kristopher Lackey with 873 votes, John Hardy with 848 and David Guss with 800.
Other candidates included Kelly Pleva with 751 votes, Richard Huseman with 559 and Richard Vinyard with 522.
Until now, the five trustees for the board were appointed by the Kendall County Board.
Stamp Act PAC, a conservative political action committee based in Yorkville, organized a ballot initiative in the June 2022 primary election to make the fire district board an elected body and voters approved the measure.
The referendum was spurred by the fire district board’s Oct. 14, 2021, decision to dismiss a firefighter-paramedic who refused to comply with an order to either be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus or submit to weekly testing.
The board voted unanimously to terminate the probationary firefighter’s employment, drawing sharp criticism from citizens who complained to the County Board and ultimately put the referendum question on the June 28, 2022, ballot.
The Bristol-Kendall Fire Protection District covers the city of Yorkville and surrounding unincorporated areas. The district maintains three fire stations and is staffed by 24 full-time employees, 30 part-time individuals and nine contract paramedics, including four incumbent trustees.