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Six Joliet Junior College Board of Trustees candidates are running for the April 1 election, and two of them have pending lawsuits against the college that challenge censure and appointment votes.
On Thursday, Joliet Junior College announced that the candidates who will appear on the ballot are:
• Maureen Flanagan Broderick of New Lenox
• Elaine Bottomley of Joliet
• Nancy Garcia of Romeoville
• Timothy John Broderick of Joliet
• Robert Wunderlich of Joliet
• Timothy Bradley of Coal City
Voters will select only three of them on the ballot, according to JJC.
The seven members of the Board of Trustees make decisions on policies and initiatives for the college, as well as the hiring of a president to handle the day-to-day operations.
Flanagan Broderick and Garcia are two incumbents running for another six-year term on the board.
Flanagan Broderick and JJC Trustee Michelle Lee, whose term expires in 2027, have an ongoing lawsuit against the college that alleged past censure votes against Flanagan Broderick violated the Illinois Open Meetings Act.
Wunderlich already spent 44 years as a board trustee, but he’s running again this April after he chose not to seek another term in 2021.
In the past three years, Wunderlich launched two unsuccessful bids for a seat on the Joliet City Council.
Wunderlich briefly served on the Joliet Plan Commission in 2021.
Wunderlich, Flanagan Broderick and Lee have a pending lawsuit against the college that alleged Wunderlich should have been named a trustee when the board initially approved his appointment last year.
Bottomley works as deputy chief of staff for Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant.
Bottomley was recommended by Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy to serve on a citizens committee that will help guide the implementation of a comprehensive plan.
She also serves on the Joliet Public Library’s Board of Trustees along with JJC spokeswoman Kelly Rohder-Tonelli and JJC Trustee Diane Harris, whose term expires in 2029.
Bradley is a trustee for the village of Coal City. In a Facebook post last year, Bradley said, “When elected, I will be the only Grundy County resident on the board.”
Timothy Broderick is not related to Flanagan Broderick. He works as the national director of sales and marketing for IEC Thermo, a specialty drying applications company based in Rockford.