Politics & Government
UPDATE: Siwinski, Mazzorana and Metanias Win Spots on Mokena Village Board
A tight race kept candidates on the edge throughout the night. As the final votes came in, the incumbents swept the Village Board race.
An earlier version of the story showed Mary Beth Windberg won a seat on the Mokena Village Board. The totals were incomplete at the time of the reporting.
Patch regrets the error.
Update:
Find out what's happening in Mokenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
As vote tallies at the Will County Clerk's Office were totaled after all precincts were in, turns out it was an incumbent sweep for trustees on the Mokena Village Board.
George Metanias raked in 1,459 votes, while Mary beth Windberg garnered 1,430.
Find out what's happening in Mokenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Original story:
A contentious race between two factions—incumbents and those aligned with incoming Mayor Frank Fleischer—was not decided until late into the evening.
In the end, the winners were incumbents Joseph M. Siwinski and John J. Mazzorana, and newcomer Mary Beth Windberg.
“I know what what direction my candidates want to take the village,” new Mayor Frank Fleischer said. “I don't know what the existing board members, many of whom I haven't worked with before at all, I have to know what direction they want to take the village in and if we're going to be compatible. I hope we are.”
The choice for mayor was decided in January after Joe Werner announced his decision to withdraw from the race. Fleischer, the challenger and former village trustee, was the only mayoral candidate to appear on the ballot.
Werner cited personal reasons for his candidacy withdrawal, saying that he wants to focus his energy on his family, his business (Werner-Nugent Plumbing) and his job as the water department superintendent and plumbing inspector for Blue Island.
But that wasn't all. The Mokena Friends and Neighbors candidates, the nonpartisan, non-incumbents— Fleischer, Jenifer Sciaky, Mary Beth Windberg, Vincent L. Di Fiore and Tony Bruozas—filed objections to the nomination petitions for incumbents Werner, Metanias, Mazzorana and Siwinski.
Ultimately, all petitions were deemed to be valid by an electoral board and all challenged incumbents were allowed to remain on the ballot.
Since then, allegations of misleading propaganda have continued.
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