Voters in Lansing may be confronted with a rematch of the 2009 election for village president, while in Sauk Village, two trustees filed nominating petitions to run for the top post.
Monday was the first day candidates could file nominating petitions to get on the ballots for the April 9 nonpartisan elections.
In Dolton, the Village Board held a special meeting Monday morning to appoint someone to run the village clerk’s office and accept petitions that are filed by independent campaigns.
Current Clerk Judy Evans has been on sick leave since September, and Deputy Clerk Maxine Knox resigned her post on Friday. Village spokeswoman Taquoya Kennedy said trustees picked Denise H. Fields to be the new deputy clerk, and she was sworn in at 8:53 a.m., seven minutes before the clerk’s office opened at 9 a.m.
In Lansing, Village President Norm Abbott and former Village Trustee Donald Sciackitano were at the village clerk’s office when it opened Monday to file petitions for their own campaigns, and for slates of candidates who will run aligned with them for other government positions.
Abbott is seeking a second term as village president, with Donna Kooyenga as village clerk, and incumbent trustees Terry Kapteyn, Dan Lyzenga and Mikal Stole all seeking re-election on a slate calling itself the Lansing Village Party.
Sciackitano, who in 2009 lost by 336 votes to Abbott for village president, is running again on a slate calling itself the Progressive Action Party. His slate includes Kelly Hasse for village clerk, and Michael Manno, Humberto Rivera and Timothy Williams for village trustee.
Manno, a former Lansing police officer who worked with area schools in drug awareness programs, ran for village president in 2009, finishing third with 16 percent of the vote.
Incumbent Village Clerk Patty Eidam plans to seek re-election with an independent candidacy, although she said Monday she will file her nominating petitions later this week. Candidates have until Dec. 26 to file petitions for the municipal election.
In Sauk Village on Monday, Trustees Derrick Burgess and Enoch Benson IV filed petitions to run for village president, and for allied slates of candidates to run for the other open posts.
Burgess, who is allied with acting Village President Tom Hanks and was an outspoken critic of former Village President Lewis Towers, is running on a slate calling itself the Peoples’ Unity Party.
Marva Pruitt-Campbell, who currently chairs the village’s beautification committee, is his choice for village clerk, while former Clerk Elizabeth “Beth” Zupon, current Trustee Edward Myers and Debbie Davis are his picks for the three village trustee seats that will be open.
Benson, who was often Towers’ lone supporter among the trustees, will run on a Citizens for Reform slate, with Shirlene McCreary for clerk and the Rev. Eddie Kimble, Carla Phillips and the Rev. Corey Lewis for trustee.
Although some people had said they would run for office on a slate with Towers, none of them filed petitions to seek any post, said Village Clerk Debbie Williams.
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