Three candidates on ballot for Rock Falls City Council 3rd Ward seat, two for 2nd Ward seat

ROCK FALLS — With seven seats on the Rock Falls City Council up for election in April 2025, only two incumbent alderman will go up against an opponent to retain their seat.

The openings come as the terms of Mayor Rod Kleckler, Ward 1 Alderman Bill Wangelin, Ward 2 Alderman Brian Snow, Ward 2 Alderman Vickey Byrd, Ward 3 Alderman Steve Dowd, Ward 4 Alderman Violet Sobottka, Ward 4 Alderman Cathy Arduini, City Treasurer Kay Abner and City Clerk Pam Martinez all end in April, according to Rock Falls Business Office Superintendent Michelle Conklin.

In Ward 2, running for a four-year term, Snow - who has held onto his seat for over two decades - will go up against former Ward 4 Alderman Marshall Doane. In Ward 3, also running for a four-year term, Dowd will face off against newcomers Mary McNeill and Austin Zink, according to Conklin.

Snow was first elected to his Ward 2 seat in 2005 and has been reelected four times.

Doane ran for a four-year Ward 4 seat in 2021 against Sobottka. He lost the election, but was appointed to a two-year term as the second Ward 4 representative alongside Sobottka. He resigned in 2022 after purchasing a home outside of the Ward 4 boundaries, Doane said in an interview with Shaw Local.

Doane has lived in Rock Falls almost his entire life and works as a logistics coordinator with Riverside Logistics in Sterling. He also owns his own business, Phoenix Wicks Candle Company.

As for Ward 3, Dowd, a retired Northwestern Steel and Wire worker, was first elected in 2021 by defeating 12-year incumbent Jim Schuneman.

One of Dowd’s opponents is newcomer Zink who, as a 25-year-old, is looking to get more young people involved in the city. He will be graduating from Northern Illinois University in May 2025, and works at Anne’s Garden Center in Dixon, Zink said in an interview with Shaw Local.

He has lived in Rock Falls his whole life and is a Rock Falls High School and Sauk Valley Community College graduate, Zink said.

Candidates running unopposed

Mayor Rod Kleckler is running unopposed for reelection. His time on the council began in 2015 when he was elected to the Ward 3 seat by defeating 24-year incumbent Dave Hand. Kleckler was reelected to the seat in 2019 after running unopposed.

In anticipation of the upcoming election, former Mayor Bill Wescott said in October that he planned on running against Kleckler, but he will not be on the April ballot.

According to Conklin, Wescott did file his petition, but withdrew it before the Nov. 18 deadline. Wescott did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

It would have been the second time Kleckler and Wescott ran against each other for the seat. The first was in 2021, when Kleckler defeated Wescott, the eight-year incumbent, by just one vote.

Also running unopposed is incumbent Wangelin. He is running for a four-year Ward 1 seat. Byrd is running for a two-year 2nd Ward seat and incumbent Sobottka for a four-year 4th Ward seat .Cathy Arduini is running for a two-year 4th Ward term.

Wangelin was first appointed to his Ward 1 seat in January 2019 for a two-year term. He was elected in 2021 to his current four-year term.

Byrd was appointed in January to the 2nd Ward seat that had been empty since the April 2023 election, when former Alderman Casey Babel did not run for reelection. Byrd is now running for election to serve for two years and complete the unexpired four-year term.

Arduini was appointed to her Ward 4 seat in January 2023 and, like Byrd, is running for a two-year term to complete the unexpired four-year term. Sobottka, who was first appointed to the 4th Ward seat in May 2017, was elected in 2019. She was reelected in 2021 to her current term.

As for other elected positions within the city, Abner is running unopposed for reelection as city treasurer, a position she’s held since 2013.

Martinez is running unopposed for city clerk. Martinez was first appointed to the position in October 2021.

Election day is April 1, 2025, and there will be no primary election in Whiteside County, according to Whiteside County Clerk Dana Nelson.

Statewide, early voting begins Feb. 20, 2025. In Whiteside County, it is held at the courthouse at 200 E. Knox St., Morrison, according to Nelson.