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Park Ridge City Council vacancy in 6th Ward attracts four hopefuls
Updated: July 8, 2012 8:20AM
A committee formed by Park Ridge Mayor David Schmidt will conduct interviews this week with four applicants looking to fill a vacancy on the Park Ridge City Council.
The four residents interested in serving as alderman of the 6th Ward during the next 11 months include:
• Jeff Cox, an attorney who was alderman of the city’s 7th Ward from 2003 to 2007.
• Marc Mazzuca, manager for corporate risk management at a financial-services firm who ran for alderman of the 6th Ward in 2005 and lost by just five votes to opponent Mary Wynn Ryan, who now serves on the Park Ridge Park Board.
• attorney Peter Ryan, Mary Wynn Ryan’s husband who served one term on the Maine Township Town Board.
• Rick Pucci, owner of a financial-planning business in Park Ridge.
The 6th Ward vacancy resulted when alderman Tom Bernick resigned last month after a year in office.
The committee that will conduct the interviews of the applicants consists of Park Ridge Park Board Commissioner Rick Biagi, Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Gail Haller, citizen Allison Harrington and Park Ridge Public Library Board Trustee Robert Trizna.
The interviews, which will be open to the public, will take place June 7 at 6 p.m. at Park Ridge City Hall, 505 Butler Place. Once interviews are completed the committee will make a recommendation to the mayor, who will then present the candidate appointment to the City Council for approval on June 18.
“I think we’re lucky we have four people who are interested, and they appear to be qualified. That’s really very good,” Schmidt said.
The mayor remarked that the turnout of hopeful appointees is much higher than during typical aldermanic elections in the city. When Bernick ran for the 6th Ward seat in 2011 he was unopposed in the race.
“In the regular elections there haven’t been all that many choices,” Schmidt said. “I wish this was an election, not a mayoral appointment.”
