Contested mayoral races in Elmhurst, Glen Ellyn highlight April 6 local elections

Contested mayoral elections in Elmhurst and Glen Ellyn, where incumbents have not sought reelection, highlight the races in the April 6 consolidated election.

In Elmhurst, where Mayor Steve Morley is not seeking a third term after serving for eight years, three aldermen are vying for the position. They are Michael Bram of Ward 3, Scott Levin of Ward 5 and Mark Mulliner of Ward 7.

Bram, a plant engineering supervisor at United Parcel Service, has been an alderman since 2001.

Mulliner, who owns a school information technology consulting service, has been an alderman since 1998. He previously was Elmhurst Unit District 205′s director of technology and was an Elmhurst Public Library Trustee for six years.

Levin, an attorney, has been an alderman since 2010. He served as acting mayor for six months, starting in December 2012, after then-Mayor Pete DiCianni resigned to serve on the DuPage County Board.

In Glen Ellyn, Diane McGinley stepped down as village president at the start of the new year – four months before her term was to expire – to move to Texas with her family. She had announced in 2020 that she would not seek a second term.

On the ballot to take her place as village president are Mark Senak and Pete Ladesic.

Senak, an attorney and a village trustee first elected in 2016, has received the endorsement of the village’s Civic Betterment Party.

Ladesic, a contractor and former village trustee, is running as an independent outside the party that has produced a slate of candidates for elected office in the village since 1931. In 2015, Ladesic bucked the trend of party-backed candidates, winning the consolidated election for a third term to the village’s board of trustees.

In La Grange, Mark Kuchler, who was appointed village president in February 2020 when Tom Livingston stepped down with a year left on his term, is running unopposed. Before taking the position, Kuchler was in his fourth term as trustee and was the longest-standing member on the village board.

La Grange has five candidates vying for four village trustee positions.

Incumbent Shawana McGee, appointed in April 2020 to fill the spot vacated by Kuchler, and challenger John Janowski are running for the remaining two-year term. McGee, a lifelong La Grange resident, is the founder and spiritual leader of the La Grange-based Caring Place Foundation, which serves the homeless and less fortunate. Janowski is a technical project manager, according to his LinkedIn page. He was a member of the La Grange Citizens Council from 2016-2019 and was elected as secretary in 2017 for a two-year term.

Candidates for three spots for full four-year terms are incumbent Lou Gale and newcomers Michael Matteucci and Peggy Peterson.

In Elmhurst, the most competitive city council race is in Ward 6, where Yeena Yoo, Emily Bastedo, Peter Dabertin and Peter Ahern are vying for the open seat previously held by Jim Kennedy for the past 12 years.

In Ward 1, incumbent Jennifer Veremis, who was appointed in July, is facing challenges from newcomers Susan Smentek and Kevin Flanagan for the two-year unexpired term. Ward 1 alderman Martha “Marti” Deuter, who is unopposed, is seeking reelection for the full four-year term.

On the ballot in Ward 2 is Jacob Hill, who was appointed in December, and challenger Tristan Dacre.

In Ward 3, Nektarious Arvanitis, Christopher Jensen and Alan Quarrie are candidates to fill the seat vacated by Bram.

Incumbents Brian Cahill in Ward 4 and Tina Park in Ward 5 are running unopposed, as is Michael Brennan in Ward 7.

In Glen Ellyn, four candidates are running for three trustee seats. Candidates receiving the endorsement of the Civic Betterment Party are incumbent Gary Fasules, a vice president of sales for an educational company who previously served on school boards in Glen Ellyn District 41 and Glenbard District 87; Kelley Kalinich, a recently retired educator who served as superintendent of Kenilworth School District 38; and Anne Gould. Jeremy Boynton is a fourth candidate on the ballot and is running outside the party.

In Wheaton, four city council seats are on the ballot. Scott Brown has filed to run for the open seat in the North District held by Christopher Zaruba. In the South District, a seat held by John Rutledge, newcomers Bill Nieman, Mark Yetsky and Scott Weller are jockeying for the spot. Incumbent Michael Francis Barbier is running unopposed in the East District. Lynn Robbins, appointed in 2019 to a two-year term representing the West District, has filed to retain the seat and is running unopposed.