4 hours Ago By Michelle Mullins
The Homer Glen Electoral Board ruled Tuesday that seven trustee candidates did not file the proper paperwork to appear on the ballot for the spring elections, while two trustee candidates had more than enough signatures to vie for three positions that are up for grabs. The board, comprised of Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike, Clerk Candice Bielski and Trustee Sue Steilen, did not rule on all the objections to candidates’ petitions and continued the hearing to Dec. 9.
But the board did remove incumbent Trustee Jennifer Trzos-Consolino, John Walters, Theresa “Tammy” Hayes and James J. Roti because they filed for both Homer Glen trustee and a school board race, and cannot run for both offices. Daniel Gutierrez did not have enough signatures once duplicate signatures were removed and he was removed from the ballot, and the board ruled Cesar E.
Marin and Ethan D. Fialko would not appear because they did not include their correct home addresses on their petitions. Trzos-Consolino filed to run for Homer Elementary School District 33C, Walters filed for Will County Elementary District 92, and Hayes and Roti filed for Lockport High School District 205.
Pericles Abbasi, an attorney for Craig Carlson who objected to 14 petitions, said the candidates cannot simultaneously run for two incompatible offices and state law has ruled that school board and village board are incompatible. The deadline to withdraw from one of the races was Monday and none of the candidates did so, he said. “If you look at the attorney general website, it does state a village trustee and a school board member are incompatible offices,” Neitkze-Troike said.
“It is my opinion that we always refer to the state statute. I cannot overrule the state statute.” Michael Carroll, attorney to the electoral board, said the candidates would have been automatically removed from both offices by the Will County clerk’s office and Illinois State Board of Elections if the Homer Glen Electoral Board did not remove their names.
Trzos-Consolino said she received information from the county clerk’s office that she could file for both offices. Roti said he doesn’t believe the two elected offices are incompatible and said he will ask a Will County judge to intervene. He believes the election hearing was a farce based on local politics and expected to be removed because he isn’t in “the mayor’s circles.
” Marin used a Homer Glen address he once shared with his partner, but had not lived there in about a year and was living with his parents in Orland Park, the board said. His attorney, Alan Bruggeman, argued Marin closed Tuesday on a new house in Homer Glen, has legal documents with his former Homer Glen address on it and intends to have a permanent residence in town. But Abbasi said the law is clear candidates have to have a permanent residence established for a year prior to the election.
Fialko, who is the son of Homer Glen Trustee Dan Fialko, included on his nominating petitions the address of the UPS store on Bell Road, which Dan Fialko said he uses for business purposes. Ethan Fialko has lived in Homer Glen his entire life, his father said. Dan Fialko, who is not running for reelection, recused himself from being a member of the electoral board earlier this month because his son’s name was on the ballot.
He said he signed petitions for other candidates and did not want an appearance of a conflict of interest. Carroll said the issue is not whether Ethan Fialko lives in Homer Glen, but he improperly used the UPS store in his nominating papers. Walters said he felt it was not a fair hearing because the electoral board members ran together two years ago on a slate.
He said the hearing was “a waste of time.” Neitzke-Troike said she had no conflict of interest as her name is not on the ballot and she has no financial interest in the election, which by law would constitute a conflict. In all, 17 candidates filed to run for three Homer Glen trustee positions and petitions were challenged for all except incumbent Rose Reynders and former Trustee Michael LePore, the Homer Glen clerk’s office said.
The electoral board ruled 3-0 that both Nicholas S. Muller and Richard J. Modelski had enough valid signatures even if the signatures in question were stricken from their petitions.
The two will remain on the ballot. The electoral board plans to hear objections Dec. 9 to petitions by former trustee Ruben L.
Pazmino, Heidi “Hadley” Pacella, Kevin Koukol, John Hayes, Katie Surges and Kyle Surges. Carlson, who objected to 14 of the petitions, said earlier this month he felt it was in the best interest of the community to challenge them. The high number of people who signed four or more petitions demonstrated a pattern of fraud, he said.
Because there are only three trustee positions up for election, residents can only sign three petition papers, Carlson said. “In my opinion, I don’t believe they are all seriously interested in running for trustee and serving our community,” Carlson said. “I believe they are looking to make a mockery of the process and bring chaos to the election.
” He also said they are all friends, evident by the fact that they signed each others’ petitions. “They don’t want to run against each other,” he said. “They just want to create havoc by forcing a primary in February, which is required if there are 13 or more candidates.
Because the field of candidates is now fewer than 13, a primary will not be necessary for the Homer Glen trustee positions unless a court action overrules the electoral board decisions. Roti said the number of candidates who filed to run for office should not be feared. “Now you have 17 people in the community coming out for three positions, which is unbelievable,” Roti said.
“I think that should be embraced. ..
. We should never discourage anybody from running for public office.” A Republican primary will still be held for the Homer Township offices since two Republican slates have filed.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown..
