Politics & Government
Three Plainfield Library Candidates Removed from Ballot
David Schmidt, Alice Adeszko and Lauren Ledvina did not have enough valid signatures to seek spots on the library board this April.
And then there were six.
The field of candidates for four spots on the Plainfield Public Library Board of Trustees got smaller on Tuesday as an electoral board chaired by Will County Clerk Nancy Schultz Voots ruled that three candidates did not have enough valid signatures on their nominating petitions to remain on the ballot.
On Wednesday, Voots said many of those who signed either were not residents of the library district or were not registered voters at the address listed.
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Will County Circuit Clerk Pam McGuire and Will County Assistant State's Attorney Mary Tatroe also served on the electoral board.
David Schmidt, who was appointed to fill a vacant spot on the board in September 2012, was ousted from the ballot, along with Alice R. Adeszko and Lauren Ledvina, after Plainfield Park District commissioner Peter Hurtado filed objections to their nominating forms.
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According to Hurtado, numerous people who signed the nominating petitions did not live within the Plainfield Public Library District boundaries, rendering their signatures invalid.
“They did not have enough signatures,” Hurtado said, adding that the electoral board ruled that Schmidt had 44, Adeszko had 45 and Ledvina had 46 — less than the 50 signatures that were required.
That means that six candidates will remain on the April 9 ballot:
- Mina Green
- Vicki Knight
- Patricia Miller
- Carl F. Gilmore
- Gretchen Fritz
- Samantha Hurtado
Hurtado’s 19-year-old daughter, Samantha Hurtado, is one of the remaining candidates.
According to Assistant Library Director Lisa Pappas, Hurtado’s objections marked the first time in two decades that a library board candidate has been challenged.
The weren’t the only challenges in Plainfield for the April 9 contest.
On Jan. 11, Mayor Michael Collins survived an objection by potential Republican write-in candidate John Ledvina, but challenger Michael Lambert was removed from the race for village president after an electoral board sided with resident Jeffrey Schmitt.
Schmitt’s attorney Richard Kavanagh successfully argued that Lambert did not have enough valid signatures to stay on the ballot.
Read: Collins Will Stay on April 9 Ballot; Lambert Loses Election Challenge
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