Politics & Government
Plainfield Township Trustee Loses Bid for Joliet City Council Seat
Steve Cammack, a Will County Sheriff's officers, would have had to give up his township post had he been elected.
Plainfield Township Trustee Steve Cammack has lost his bid for the District 1 Joliet City Council seat.
Cammack came in fifth in a field of seven candidates, carrying 8.9 percent of the vote.
There was no declared winner, however, because candidates Ilona Vaughn and Larry E. Hug tied with 499 votes. Incumbent Joseph Shetina was ousted, receiving 384 votes. Cammack received 175.
Find out what's happening in Plainfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Cammack said he would have resigned his township board post by the end of the month had he won. Now he plans to complete his township term, which runs through 2013.
State law prohibits someone from holding a city council seat and a township trustee position at the same time, Cammack said Tuesday afternoon.
Find out what's happening in Plainfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“This is not a choice for me,” he said. “These are incompatible seats.”
District 1 covers the northern region of Joliet, largely north of Theodore Road, west of Essington Road and east of County Line Road.
Cammack, a law enforcement officer with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, was elected to the board in 2009 and chairs the board's disabilities committee. He campaigned for city council on his role in helping to manage the township’s $1.5 million budget and its $125,000 surplus.
Cammack campaigned as fiscal conservative. His priorities, he said on his campaign Web site, were to “scrutinize the budget, examine new options to attract business and industry....” He advocated for stepped-up police and fire services for District 1, maintaining that the region has been overdeveloped.
Cammack was appointed to the Joliet Plan Commission in 2006. He also served as a PTO co-president and now chairs the WATCH D.O.G.S. program at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School.
