Objections to local candidate petitions in DeKalb are nothing new. But the 2011 elections for the DeKalb city council are off to an interesting start. According to Daily Chronicle reports objections to candidate petitions were filed against Monica O’Leary (7th Ward); Bertrand Simpson (1st Ward); and Ron Naylor (5th Ward).
Simpson and Naylor are sitting aldermen. Simpson is a former political science instructor at NIU. Naylor’s been around City Hall as a former employee and as an alderman for decades. It’s reasonable to think that the two aldermen should know how to fill out and file a petition for the seats they’re occupying.
Naylor has more experience in such matters than Simpson. In his last race for the 5th ward his only challenger, Gavin Wilson, was disqualified as a candidate because the municipal elections board, made up of the late Mayor Frank Van Buer, 3rd Alderman Steve Kapitan and City Clerk Donna Johnson, found that Wilson failed to include the name and date of the election on his nominating petitions.
Naylor was elected to the 5th ward seat vacated by Pat Conboy, who held the seat vacated by Bessie Chronopoulus when she unseated Mayor Greg Sparrow. Conboy’s lone challenger in his last 5th ward race, Jeffrey Holtz, was disqualified when the electoral board made up of Mayor Greg Sparrow, 3rd Ward Alderman Steve Kapitan and City Clerk Donna Johnson cited a range of problems with his petition.
The electoral board for this round of objections is Mayor Kris Povlsen, 6th Ward Alderman Dave Baker, and City Clerk Steve Kapitan.
Corey Kravitz and Mark Charvat filed objections against Simpson’s petition citing failure to indicate a ward under the “office” heading and missing the zipcode where it was required. Simpson is being challenged by David Jacobsen. No objections were filed against his petition.
Charvat filed a similar objection against Naylor’s petition, citing failure to specify which city Naylor was running in. Robert Fischer is running against Naylor. No one objected to his petition.
Erik Calmeyer filed an objection against Monica O’Leary’s petition. Calmeyer, who is running against O’Leary for the 7th Ward seat being vacated by Lisa Kammes, alleges that O’Leary failed to indicate her ZIP code and position or office on her receipt for statement of economic interest.
The hearing has been set for 10am Tuesday in the DeKalb Council Chambers. Candidate filing hearings must be settled by the end of January.
Click Here To Submit A News Tip Or Story