Publications & Sites 
Contested races for Park Ridge mayor, aldermen, school boards this April
Updated: February 4, 2013 6:16AM
PARK RIDGE — A number of contested races are expected across Park Ridge in April, from City Council elections to school boards.
The last day to file nominating petitions to run in the April 9 election was Dec. 26.
Running for mayor of Park Ridge is incumbent David Schmidt and newcomer Larry Ryles. Aldermanic candidates include Nicholas Milissis and George Korovilas in the 2nd Ward, Roger Shubert and Jane Johnson in the 4th Ward, and Marc Mazzuca and Vincent LaVecchia in the 6th Ward.
All aldermanic candidates are running for the first time, with the exception of Mazzuca who was appointed to the council last summer. Korovilas, Shubert and Johnson filed to run on the last day.
The only uncontested City Council race is for clerk, with long-time incumbent Betty Henneman the only candidate.
In Maine Township High School District 207 there is a crowded field of candidates vying for five open seats. The candidates include incumbents Eldon Burk, Eric Leys, Margaret McGrath and Carla Owen, and newcomers Mary Childers, Jin Lee, Jeffrey Spero and Sean Story. Childers and Leys have filed for both a four-year term and the one two-year term that exists. They will need to withdraw from one of those races, according to district spokesman David Beery.
Not running for re-election in District 207 is Edward Mueller.
In Park Ridge-Niles School District 64, there will also be a contested race with six candidates filing for four open seats on the board: incumbent Scott Zimmerman and newcomers Terry Cameron, Rick Van Roeyen, Vicki Lee, Benjamin Seib and Dathan Paterno. Seib and Paterno had filed nominating petitions provisionally and were added as candidates following a review by legal counsel, according to District 64 spokeswoman Bernadette Tramm.
Not running for re-election are District 64 board members Pat Fioretto, Sharon Lawson and Eric Uhlig. All three were first elected to the board in 2009 and served one term.
Four seats are also up for election in East Maine School District 63 which serves a small area of northern Park Ridge. Incumbents Walter Gluzkin, Krystal Zec and Sheila Urban have filed to run for re-election, as have newcomers Zeev Walny and Alexandra Brook. Long-time board member and president Jane Wojtkiewicz has not filed to seek another term.
On the Park Ridge Recreation and Park District Board, incumbents Steven Hunst, Rick Biagi, Richard Brandt and Stephen Vile have filed to retain their seats. They will face newcomers James Phillips and Joan Bende.
There will also be a contested race for four trustee positions and the office of clerk on the Maine Township Town Board.
The board’s current incumbents have filed for re-election as a Republican slate. They include Carol Teschky for supervisor, Gary Warner for Clerk, Tom Rueckert for assessor, Robert Provenzano for highway commissioner and trustees Walter Kazmierczak, Susan Moylan-Krey, Laura Morask and Peter Gialamas.
On the Democrat side, Laura O’Donovan will face Warner in the clerk’s race. Trustee candidates include Judith Foster, Abraham Lee, Carol Sue Walker and James Wozny.
The period for filing objections to an individual’s candidacy is this week.
