Caucus Set to Endorse Ed Reid, Two New Candidates for Village Board

The Clarendon Hills Community Caucus is set to finalize next week its slate of endorsed candidates for the 2013 village board election and the group will very likely include two potential newcomers.

The caucus' village board nominating committee will back the candidacies of Don Knoll, Ed Reid and Eric Stach, caucus secretary Suzanne Austin said Tuesday afternoon. Unless alternate candidates are nominated from the floor at its Monday night meeting, she said, those three will get the backing of the caucus as a whole.

Knoll and Stach would be new to the village board if elected by Clarendon Hills voters on April 9, 2013.

Austin said that likely slate was put together by the caucus’ village board nominating committee after it vetted numerous interested candidates—more than three, she said—via a questionnaire and live interviews over the last five weeks.

On Monday night, any registered Clarendon Hills voter can show up to Notre Dame Church’s O’Keefe Room at 7:30 p.m. to be a part of the endorsement process. Austin said that during the meeting nominating committee chairs will announce the committee-backed candidates before there’s an opportunity for attendees to make nominations from the floor.

Austin said Monday's is an important meeting.

"We encourage residents to come out and be a part of the process, to have a voice in the future of our village," she said. 

Reid would be the only current trustee to get the caucus’ endorsement if the above slate is finalized. Current trustees Allan Alongi and Mary Williams are also serving out terms that expire in 2013, and neither plan on running for re-election.

Knoll is currently an elected member of the Clarendon Hills Park District Board of Commissioners, and Stach is listed as a member of the steering committee of Citizens for Clarendon Hills, a group that opposed the village’s unsuccessful bid to attain home rule on the March primary ballot.

Austin, the caucus secretary, said the caucus' nominating committees for village board, park district board of commissioners, and library board have been working hard to find the right candidates to endorse since Oct. 30.

“It’s obviously a volunteer job,” she said of the elected offices. “We want people that really want to do it. We have such a great variety of people here in town with phenomenal backgrounds—it was a very difficult decision.”

Austin said she expected the endorsed candidates for both library board and park board to be announced by this Friday. 

One does not need the endorsement of the caucus to run. Those interested in running for local office on April 9 must file the mandatory nominating papers with the governmental body they hope to serve, including in this case with Clarendon Hills village clerk Dawn Tandle, between Monday, Dec. 17, and Wednesday, Dec. 26.

Editor's note: This article previously stated that Mary Williams was interested in seeking re-election. However, that was her stance before the caucus' vote. She no longer plans on running.

See also:

• State Extends Local Elections Filing Deadline to 5 p.m. Dec. 26
• Trustee Bob Sodikoff to Run Against Gary Grasso for Burr Ridge Mayor
• Hinsdale Trustee Doug Geoga Not Running for Re-election