Objections raised against Joliet Junior College Board of Trustees candidates

Objections have been raised against three out of seven petitions filed by candidates seeking to run for two seats on the Joliet Junior College Board of Trustees in the April 1 election.

Eric Moon of Joliet has filed objections to the petitions filed by incumbent Trustee Maureen Broderick of New Lenox and former Trustee Robert Wunderlich of Joliet.

Moon also objected to the petition from Darryl Link, who listed an address that is in an area of Joliet known as “Jofield” because it has a Plainfield mailing address.

The first hearing on Moon’s objections to the three petitions took place Thursday, but no decision was made. Instead, Broderick, Wunderlich and Link were given time to file their written responses to Moon’s objections.

The next hearing will take place at 2 p.m. Friday in the Joliet Junior College boardroom.

The electoral board handling the objections includes JJC Board Chairman James Budzinski, Vice Chairwoman Alicia Morales and Doug Pryor, who is president and CEO of the Will County Center for Economic Development.

In a statement at Thursday’s hearing, Budzinski said Pryor was appointed by Will County Chief Judge Dan Kennedy to fill a vacancy on the electoral board.

Other prospective candidates who’ve filed petitions to run for a seat on the JJC board include incumbent Trustee Nancy Garcia Guillen of Romeoville, Elaine Bottomley of Joliet and Tim Bradley of Coal City. Timothy Broderick of Joliet, who is not related to Maureen Broderick, also has filed a petition.

The seats of Broderick, Garcia Guillen and former Trustee John “Jake” Mahalik are the only three that are up for election April 1.

Wunderlich has a pending lawsuit challenging the Oct. 7 appointment of Trustee Josh Stamborski, who replaced Mahalik.

In Moon’s objections to the filings from Broderick, Wunderlich and Link, he contends that the candidates should have identified that they live in Joliet Community College District 525 in certain areas on their statement of candidacy.

He also argued that they have not submitted “proper, clear documentation outlining which position, district or governing body they are interested in being a candidate for.”

Moon raised more issues with Link’s filings. He claimed that although Link “submitted a total of 78 signatures, only 40 signatures can and should be considered valid in support of their candidacy.” The minimum required signatures needed is 50, Moon said.

Moon claims that Link’s petition contains signatures of people who do not live within District 525, which covers parts of Will, Grundy, Kendall, LaSalle, Kankakee, Livingston and Cook counties.

The majority of the signatures in Link’s petition show people residing in Will County, but there are a few signatures from people living in the Cook County boundary outside of District 525.