Oak Park candidates file Monday for schools, library village and parks races

The filing period for candidates in the April 7 election began Dec. 15, with incumbents and hopefuls for various local elected offices taking their first steps towards next spring’s race.

At village hall, three seats are up on the board of trustees, and, as of Dec. 16, the three incumbents — Andrea Ott, Adam Salzman and Bob Tucker — were the only candidates who had filed petitions, according to Village Clerk Teresa Powell.

The candidates were endorsed by the Village Manager Association, a nonprofit organization that recruits candidates for public office. Following the endorsement, the three candidates established their own political party for the election under the name Community First Oak Park.

Powell said candidates who run together as a slate raise funds and share resources collectively. She said that since Ott, Salzman and Tucker were the first to file petitions, they will be the first three names listed on the ballot.

The deadline for filing petitions is 5 p.m. on Dec. 22. Petition signatures from registered voters must equal 5 percent of the total ballots cast in the most recent municipal election. A total 8,112 ballots were cast in the 2013 election for village board, Powell said.

For the board of the Parks District of Oak Park, two candidates have filed petitions: incumbent Paul Aeschleman and newcomer Kevin Ochalla. Petition signatures required of parks district commissioners must equal at least 2 percent of ballots cast in the last municipal election.

Two incumbents have filed for reelection in the race for Oak Park Library Board of Trustees: Janet Kelenson and Lane Hart. Petitions must include at least 25 signatures from Oak Park voters.

Six candidates filed on Monday for the Oak Park public school board races. 

Two of the three District 200 seats up next April are open. Incumbents John Phelan and Ralph Lee are not running while incumbent Sharon Patchak-Layman is. In District 97, four seats are up April 7. Incumbents Bob Spatz and Jim O’Connor are seeking another term, while Denise Sacks and Peter Traczyk declined to run again.

O’Connor filed Monday, looking to win a second term next year. Other hopefuls filing for D97 were Jay Schulman, Rita Kahn and A. Rupa Datta-Nemana. For D200, candidates Sara Dixon Spivy and Guillermo Cabacungan III filed Monday.

Traczyk, a two-term board member, announced on Dec. 11, that’s he’s running for the high school board, after announcing last month that he would not seek a third term at D97. Traczyk was elected in 2007 and 2011 and is a former board president. A 17-year Oak Park resident, Traczyk is a certified financial planner with Voya Financial Advisors. 

Prior to his election on the D97 school board, Traczyk served on the district’s finance advisory committee and was a Beye PTO member. He has three children, one attending Julian Middle School and two at Oak Park and River Forest High School. 

Traczyk said he plans to file for the D200 race this week with the Cook County Clerk’s office. Traczyk said he’s been circulating petitions, having finally decided to run two weeks ago. Spatz said he also plans to file this week, having announced his reelection bid in September.

At D200, Traczyk said he hopes to play a role in the high school’s effort to reduce its $100-plus million fund balance. Traczyk was a member of the school’s Finance Advisory Committee which recommended an aggressive approach to bringing down the reserves. 

The construction of a new pool facility is another issue Traczyk hopes to see through on the D200 board. He currently sits on D200’s pool site evaluation committee that’s charged with finalizing the site and funding options.

Traczyk offered praise to D200 member Jeff Weissglass for his leadership on the pool committee and the FAC, both of which Weissglass chaired. Traczyk also had praise for Phelan, the board’s current president, for improving the working relationship between D200 and other local taxing bodies.

“I think I can add value to this board similar to District 97,” Traczyk said. “I’m very collaborative and can look at the bigger picture. The District 200 board has made leaps and bounds as a collaborative body. I think they can still move that a little further.”

He served as D97 board president from 2009 to 2011. In his two terms, the elementary and middle school district passed a tax hike referendum in ’11, hired a new superintendent in 2010, and launched a full-day kindergarten program beginning in 2008. Traczyk said he had hoped to make his announcement for the high school board after wrapping up a new teacher contract in D97, but that wasn’t going to happen as contract talks have lasted all year. 

The next bargaining session was scheduled for Tuesday, with the hope of reaching a tentative agreement at that time and ratification by early January, he said.

“I am surprised and concerned that it’s gone on so long. My sincere hope is to ratify a deal early next year. It has certainly been a distraction to our staff and administration to keep going back to the bargaining table. All sides want a ratified contract,” Traczyk said. 

On Tuesday Dec. 16, candidate Holly Spurlock filed petitions for the D97 board.