Posted in 2021 Elections, 220, Barrington Area Library, Barrington Hills Park District, Board of Education, Conflict of interest, Deception, District 220 referendum, Ethics, His Master's Voice, Illinois State Board of Elections, Land Use, League of Women Voters, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, One Barrington Hills, OP/Ed, Pension Funding, Politics, Property Taxes, Real Estate, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, School Districts, Village Board, Village Code, Village Government, Village President, Your Barrington Hills on March 26, 2021| Leave a Comment »
There are a number of exceptionally qualified candidates running for office in the upcoming Consolidated Elections April 6th.
Following is a summary of candidates running for various offices in the order they appear on the ballots for those offices. The Observer has noted those candidates we endorse with a check mark.
Early voting is available to registered voters now through Election Day.
Posted in 2021 Elections, 220, Board of Education, BOHICA, Deception, League of Women Voters, Politics, School Districts on March 26, 2021| 7 Comments »
A partisan political group in Barrington has expressed support for candidates in school and library board races, a move criticized by the League of Women Voters, which says party politics has no place in local elections.
In an email and on Facebook this month, the Barrington Township Republican Organization backed candidates running for the Barrington Area Library, Barrington Area Unit School District 220 and Harper College boards. The candidates also are backed by a political action committee called ACTION, or “Advancing Change Together In Our Neighborhood.”
Vicki Martin, co-president of the League of Women Voters of the Palatine Area, which includes Barrington, called it “a bad precedent.” The nonpartisan group has received several calls from people concerned about this, she said.
The ACTION PAC backs Katie Karam, Malgorzata “Maggie” McGonigal and Steve Wang for the Barrington Area Unit District 220 school board, Josie Croll and Ann Ordway for Barrington Area Library board, and Kelly Dittman for Harper College trustee.
The eight other candidates for the four seats on the District 220 board are incumbents Sandra Ficke-Bradford and Mike Schakleton, and newcomers Erin Chan Ding, Tom Mitoraj, Lauren Berkowitz Klauer, William Betz, Jonathan Matta and Robert Windon. Also running for three open seats on the Harper College board are incumbents Diane G. Hill, William F. Kelley and Nancy N. Robb. And incumbents Denise Tenyer and Jennifer Lucas are also running for two open seats on the library board.
When contacted by the Daily Herald, Republican organization President Peter Kopsaftis said the support for the ACTION PAC came from him as an individual, not the organization as a whole.
“Don’t make things out of nothing,” he told a reporter. “It’s not an endorsement. It’s simply information.”
Read more here.
Posted in 2021 Elections, 220, Barrington Area Library, Board of Education, League of Women Voters, Politics, Property Taxes, Resident Spotlights, School Districts on March 13, 2021| Leave a Comment »
The League of Women Voters have two local candidate forums scheduled this afternoon.
District 220 School Board candidates Katie Karam, Maggie McGonigal, Michael Shackleton, Steve Wang, William Betz, Erin Chan Ding, Sandra Ficke-Bradford, Lauren Berkowitz Klauer, Jonathan Matta, Thomas J. Mitoraj, Alex Michael Strobl and Robert Windon are scheduled to speak at 1:30 PM today. To register on Zoom with the Barrington Area Library, click here.
At 3:00 PM, Barrington Area Library candidates Josie Croll, Anne Ordway, Jennifer J. Lucas and Denise Tenyer are on deck to speak. To register to participate, click here.
Posted in 2021 Elections, Barrington Area Library, Barrington Hills Farm, Barrington Hills Park District, Commercial Horse Boarding, Equestrian Commission, Going green, Horizon Farm, League of Women Voters, Lighting Ordinance, Organizations, Plan Commission, Politics, Property Taxes, Real Estate, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Topics Of Interest, Transparency, Village Board, Village Code, Village Government, Village President, Well Water Quality, Zoning Board on March 8, 2021| 4 Comments »
Posted in 2021 Elections, Barrington Area Library, League of Women Voters, Politics, Village Board, Village President on March 5, 2021| 1 Comment »
The League of Women Voters of the Palatine Area and the Barrington Area Library are hosting two virtual forums for Village of Barrington Hills candidates seeking office in the April 6 election tomorrow.
Barrington Hills Village President candidates Brian D. Cecola and Dennis Kelly, are scheduled for 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Cate Williams will moderate. To register, visit https://tinyurl.com/6s4f1dkh.
From 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Kim Inman will moderate a discussion with Barrington Hills Village Trustee candidates Laura S. Ekstrom, David Riff, Thomas W. Strauss, Brent Joseph Burval, Paula Jacobsen and Robert M. Zubak. To register, visit https://tinyurl.com/12bj0f4g.
Posted in 2021 Elections, 220, Barrington Area Library, Board of Education, League of Women Voters, One Barrington Hills, Politics, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, School Districts on February 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »
The League of Women Voters of the Palatine Area and the Barrington Area Library are hosting a series of virtual forums for candidates in several Barrington-area races in the April 6 election.
The first three are set for Saturday, March 6. Barrington Hills village president candidates Brian D. Cecola and Dennis Kelly, are scheduled for 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Cate Williams will moderate. To register, visit https://tinyurl.com/6s4f1dkh.
From 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Kim Inman will moderate a discussion with Barrington Hills village trustee candidates Laura S. Ekstrom, David Riff, Thomas W. Strauss, Brent Joseph Burval, Paula Jacobsen and Robert M. Zubak. To register, visit https://tinyurl.com/12bj0f4g.
A forum for Barrington Area Unit School District 220 candidates is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Saturday, March 13. The field includes William Betz, Erin Chan Ding, Sandra Ficke-Bradford, Katie Karam, Lauren Berkowitz Klauer, Jonathan Matta, Malgorzata McGonigal, Thomas J. Mitoraj, Michael Shackleton, Alex Strobl, Steve Wang and Robert Windon.
To register, visit https://tinyurl.com/2kp6j4pc.
The forum will be followed from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. that day by one for Barrington Area Library board candidates Josie Croll, Jennifer J. Lucas, Anne Ordway and Denise Tenyer. To register, visit https://tinyurl.com/3ngvn4ad.
“Candidate forums are an ideal way to see and hear your community leaders and their opponents explain their views, defend their voting record, and answer questions posed by our fellow citizens,” Vicki Martin, co-president of the League of Women Voters of the Palatine Area, said in an announcement of the events Tuesday.
All candidate forums are run by trained, nonpartisan moderators. Equal time is given to all candidates to answer each question. The candidates will have two minutes to present an opening statement, in turn, by number drawn.
Questions solicited from community members and nonpartisan groups will be vetted in advance by the league for appropriateness and relevance. Candidates who are unable to participate will be allowed to submit a three-minute statement that will be read by the moderator.
Posted in 2020 Elections, League of Women Voters, OP/Ed, Politics, Property Taxes, Springfield, Taxes on October 18, 2020| 1 Comment »
On September 26th, The League of Women Voters (LWV) of the Palatine Area, lwvpalatinearea.org, conducted a virtual non-partisan candidate forum for three candidates running for the 52nd District of the Illinois House of Representatives; Martin McLaughlin, Alia Sarfraz and Marci Suelzer. The YouTube recording of the meeting can be viewed here.
We listened intently to the recording and felt we would be remiss if we did not share at least one excerpt we believe is critical for voters to hear or read. The LWV asked candidates to,
“Think of a person that is, or has served in Springfield, that’s made an impact for the better in our state.”
Marci Suelzer’s response to this simple question was,
Marci Suelzer
The question and her response can be heard here.
Though she admittedly lacks experience, that has not stopped significant contributions to Suelzer’s campaign which only began less than three months ago. Her campaign committee has amassed upwards of $400,000, primarily from Democratic Party of Illinois ($129k), Democratic Majority ($94k), LIUNA Chicago Laborers ($58k), Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters PAC ($58k) and Friends to Elect Kathleen Willis ($45k).
Clearly with this overabundance of political funding, Marci Suelzer does not need to worry about her lack of experience, since if she is elected, her well-financed handlers will tell her how to vote.
Martin McLaughlin has been running for the 52nd District for nearly a year with funding of about 20% of that of his opponent. What matters most when considering which candidate to vote for in an election;
You decide!
Campaign finance references: Marci Suelzer Campaign Committee, Martin McLaughlin For State Representative
Posted in 2020 Elections, League of Women Voters, Politics, Property Taxes, Springfield, Taxes on September 24, 2020| Leave a Comment »
The League of Women Voters of the Palatine Area, lwvpalatinearea.org, has scheduled a virtual, nonpartisan Candidate Forums September 26 from 11 AM to noon to help inform and educate voters prior to the Nov. 3 General Election. Candidates running for the Illinois House of Representatives 52nd District are Martin McLaughlin, Alia Sarfraz and Marci Suelzer.
Register for virtual forum at: https://balibrary.librarycalendar.com/events/illinois-52nd-candidate-forum.
Posted in League of Women Voters, Politics, Topics Of Interest on August 22, 2020| Leave a Comment »
(Click on image to enlarge)
The first woman to vote in Illinois lived in Lombard.
The leader of a pioneering 1910 auto tour across northern Illinois to stump for suffrage lived in Oak Park.
The architect of the law that let Illinois women vote for municipal and presidential elections after 1913 hailed from Evanston. So did the longtime president of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, a group that led a major push for the suffrage cause.
The suburbs were fertile ground for the decadeslong movement that eventually allowed women the vote nationwide 100 years ago with the ratification on Aug. 26, 1920, of the 19th Amendment.
Nearby in Chicago, women like Ida B. Wells and Jane Addams also pushed the needle forward by forming a suffrage club among African American women and taking a leadership role in the National American Woman Suffrage Association. With these efforts, adding in the actions of women across the suburbs, historical experts say, the region took on a strong importance in the push to secure “Votes for Women,” as suffragists’ campaign signs often read.
“It’s the whole Chicago area that is influencing the movement,” said Lori Osborne, director of the Evanston Women’s History Project.
Read more of the Daily Herald article here.
Further references cited in this article can be found at Evanston Women’s History Project, Lombard Historical Society, DuPage County Historical Museum, Illinois Humanities Road Scholar and the Naper Settlement.
Posted in League of Women Voters, Politics on March 8, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Gordon “Jay” Kinzler answers a question while seated beside Jeanne Ives during the League of Women Voters candidate forum featuring candidates for the Republican nomination for the 6th Congressional District at the Barrington Area Library Saturday. (Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer)
Two Republicans seeking the GOP nomination for the 6th Congressional District in the March 17 primary stressed their problem-solving skills and contrasting backgrounds at a forum Saturday at the Barrington Area Library organized by the League of Women Voters of the Palatine Area.
Jeanne Ives, a former state representative and veteran who unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination for governor in 2018, and Gordon “Jay” Kinzler, a surgeon, colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves and former Glen Ellyn park board president, agree on many issues, such as smaller government, lower taxes, supporting President Donald Trump’s border wall and Second Amendment rights.
Read more here.
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