Hinsdale voters will have a choice for village president, for the first time since 2009.
That’s when Thomas Cauley, Jr. beat two other candidates and was elected village president. He has held the position since then and plans to seek a third term.
Village Trustee Laura LaPlaca, who is finishing her second four-year term on the board, also is running for village president and she is expected to have the backing of the Hinsdale Village Caucus.
The filing period for candidates for the April election to local government boards runs Dec. 12-19.
But the Hinsdale Caucus’ nominating committees already have announced their list of recommended nominees to serve on the Hinsdale Village Board, the Hinsdale Library Board and the Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Elementary District 181 Board.
The full caucus will vote on the nominations at its meeting at 7 p.m. Nov. 30 in the Hinsdale Public Library, 20 E. Maple St. The meeting will be held in the lower level community meeting room and is open to the public. Only caucus members can vote, but other registered voters can sign candidates’ nominating petitions.
Despite caucus policy, Cauley said he went through the caucus interview process because he plans to seek re-election. He said he wants to complete unfinished business, such as the road and sewer maintenance program and downtown revitalization.
When he joined the Village Board as a trustee in 2007, the village had not had a road and sewer maintenance plan for a long time, Cauley said. The village fund balances also were lower than recommended.
He has built up the village reserves, he said, and used money from the general fund to pay for street repairs on an annual basis.
“It’s been pretty much pay as you go,” Cauley said. “The last thing I want to do is turn it over to a new president with a lot of debt.”
He also looks forward to the village building a parking deck in conjunction with the new Hinsdale Middle School project, that would provide needed parking for the businesses and new restaurants that have opened in the downtown.
“I have talked to a lot of people who have said they would support me for a third term,” Cauley said. “I would like to let the voters decide.”
LaPlaca thinks the caucus policy not to endorse someone for more than two terms is the correct one.
“Term limits in any political environment are important,” LaPlaca said. “It is important to bring new people in. I have the experience and skill set that would make me an effective and good village president.”
Cauley bucked caucus policy when he ran for re-election as village president in 2013. Then the caucus bylaws did not support village presidents running for a second four-year term. The caucus did not endorse Cauley because his candidacy was against its policy, but recognizing that experience as village president is valuable, the caucus delegates did not endorse any candidate in opposition to him. Cauley won in an uncontested race.
Since then, the caucus modified its rules to allow it to endorse village president candidates for a second term, the same limit as for the other boards.
The caucus’ mission is to identify, recruit, interview and support the most qualified candidates for local offices, through a nonpartisan and objective process. About 50 volunteer delegates were randomly assigned to nominating committees for each of the three boards in June.
The committee for the Hinsdale Village Board nominated Neale Byrnes, Gerald Hughes, Matt Posthuma and Michael Ripani for the four trustee seats that will be up for election April 7.
Hughes is seeking re-election to his second four-your term as village trustee. Byrnes is an incumbent, having been appointed in February to replace J. Kimberley Angelo, who moved from Hinsdale.
Posthuma and Ripani are running for the positions that Robert Saigh held until he resigned and moved out of the village, and that LaPlaca held for the past eight years.
The caucus’ District 181 nominating committee has recommended Margaret Kleber, Nathan Lucht and Meeta Patel for election in District 181. They would run for the seats held by Mridu Garg, Jill Vorobiev and Gary Clarin, whose terms are expiring.
Garg and Vorobiev said they do not want another term on the board. Clarin has not replied to inquiries about whether he will run for re-election.
The nominating committee for the Hinsdale Library Board has recommended Susan Blumberg-Kason, Amy Glynn, Kristin McDaniel and Beverly Schmidt for the four seats up for election on the seven-member board. None of them is an incumbent.
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