A DuPage County judge will hear arguments next week on holding a rare special municipal election to fill a Warrenville City Council seat that has been vacant since May because city officials are deadlocked over naming a replacement for Ald. Mark Molnar, who resigned.
Judge Bonnie Wheaton said Tuesday she will schedule a hearing for Aug. 28 in her Wheaton courtroom–early enough, she said, that if she orders an election, candidates can meet deadlines to be placed on the ballot. The judge also said she would handle the matter expeditiously to minimize costs.
Attorney Chris Noffsinger filed a suit against the city last week arguing that the 4th Ward, the city’s largest, has a lack of representation and is suffering “irreparable injury” because of the vacancy.
On Friday, Noffsinger amended the complaint to include the DuPage County Board of Election Commissioners as a defendant.
Mayor Vivian Lund, who has unsuccessfully brought two candidates before the council since Molnar resigned, had hoped the hearing would be scheduled this week.
“Time is of the essence,” she said. Lund, whose nominations of former Ald. Dave Carroll and former River Oaks Homeowners Association President Tom Sinnott have been rejected by aldermen, favors a special election.
But the City Council, which often has been at odds with the four-term mayor, voted 3-2 on Monday to contest the lawsuit. Ald. Linda Lindford, the 4th Ward’s only sitting alderman, and Ald. Burt Minor, who opposed both of the mayor’s appointments, did not attend Monday’s meeting.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Warrenville City Atty. Dave Freeman argued the 4th Ward is not suffering from a lack of representation.
Patrick Bond, the attorney for the election board, argued that without a precedent-setting case to guide it, he is concerned the court does not have the authority to decide. Potentially, the decision could be nullified, he said.
State law allows a resident to request a special election if a council seat has been vacated for 60 days. The law, however, has not yet been tested, attorneys said.
Aldermen Bill Marzano, Stuart Aschauer and Earl Brogie, all vocal opponents of Lund, support holding an election next March.
The 4th Ward is not without representation, Brogie insisted. “We represent everyone,” he said Monday.
Sinnott said he will run if an election is held. On Monday, he presented the council with 250 signatures of registered voters backing him as a candidate.
As the city’s largest ward, the 4th Ward has about 1,700 registered voters, said Robert Sarr, the election commission’s executive director.
A special election would cost about $17,000, an expense that most likely would fall to the city, officials said. However, a municipal election tagged onto a scheduled fall or spring election would cost little.
