Marseilles commissioner race: Buckingham, Kaminski hold leads, joined by Small, Scheib

Incumbent commissioners Jim “Buck” Buckingham and Bobby Kaminski will be joined on the Marseilles City Council by Michael Scheib and Melissa Small, as long as unofficial results hold.

Buckingham has 406 votes, Kaminski 327, Scheib 309 and Small 283, according to unofficial results. Ed Cavanaugh Jr. was 46 votes behind Small for the fourth spot and Lewey 54 votes behind.

Brad Miller and James Hanlon registered 216 votes and 192, in unofficial totals.

Small is in position to join the council after having already spent time serving on boards with the city, and Scheib, who is in third behind Kaminski, joins while also being a mail carrier and the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 316.

Expressed heavily by all candidates during the candidate’s forum on March 28 was how much each candidate does for the community. There wasn’t a candidate not involved in some way with a volunteer cause or service organization throughout the city, they said during the forum.

Also stressed was the need by transparency, and the need to keep Marseilles residents aware of the goings-on around the community.

The candidates differed in their view on the Interstate 80 sewer extension, with most expressing it will do a lot well for their community. However, Scheib, Buckingham and Kaminski each pointed out the need to keep the small businesses in downtown Marseilles in mind when expansion near Interstate 80 begins.