Elmhurst Mayoral Hopefuls Jockey For Position

Elmhurst IL

05 April, 2021

2:38 PM

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ELMHURST, IL — Whoever becomes Elmhurst's next mayor will be a familiar face on the local political scene. All three candidates have been on the City Council for a decade or longer. The candidates are Ward 3's Michael Bram, Ward 5's Scott Levin and Ward 7's Mark Mulliner. The election is Tuesday. They are vying to succeed Steve Morley, who has been mayor for the last eight years and ran unopposed in the last election. Meanwhile, four city wards are seeing competitive races. In the mayoral contest, all three candidates are able to tout their experience in city government. In December 2012, Levin, a lawyer, was appointed mayor for a few months after then-Mayor Pete DiCianni left to join the DuPage County Board. The entire council, including Bram and Mulliner, voted for Levin's selection. In 2013, Mulliner, a retired official from the Elmhurst school district, ran for mayor, drawing about 30 percent of the vote against two other candidates. Morley prevailed with 43 percent. Bram, an engineer, has represented Elmhurst's northeast side for two decades. He is not shy about being the lone dissenting vote on the 14-member City Council — and he often is. One of Bram's key issues has dominated the mayoral race in recent weeks. He proposed the addition of advanced life support on city fire trucks. Mulliner and Levin joined Morley and other aldermen in opposing such a move, saying it would cost millions of dollars in pensions and other benefits over the long run. They said that's because such a service would become a mandated issue of bargaining with the firefighters union. Bram disagreed. He contended firefighters, who already show up to emergency medical calls, should be able to provide such life support if they arrive before the city's private ambulance service. The cost for getting the equipment is estimated at $80,000. The union backs the idea and promises it would not demand that advanced life support become an issue for bargaining. In response to the debate, Mayor Morley has called arguments in favor of advanced life support on fire rigs "disingenuous" and "ludicrous." "I think for the city of Elmhurst to add millions of dollars to the budget on a yearly basis is not something that is prudent at this time," he said at a recent meeting. The proposal also has the support of Shelly LeGere, mother of Annie LeGere, whose 13-year-old daughter died six years ago of a severe allergic reaction. For years, the Annie LeGere Foundation has offered to pay for advanced life support equipment on city fire rigs. After a foundation board member spoke at a public meeting last month for advanced life support, Ward 1 Alderwoman Marti Deuter emailed the member, accusing her of exploiting the tragedy. Deuter later apologized. During the controversy over Deuter's email, Shelly LeGere told Patch that the city's response to the 2015 emergency was plagued with problems. A police officer, she said, asked her to drive the ambulance. Another issue that attracted notice in the campaign was a $5,000 donation to Mulliner from a neighborhood group that opposes new parking lots at Roberto's Ristorante and Pizzeria. The group, Elmhurst Neighbors United, criticized Levin's response to the issue. He is one of the neighborhood's two aldermen. Mulliner sits on the City Council committee that would review the proposal before the full council votes on it. Given Mulliner's committee role, Levin said the contribution had an "appearance of impropriety." After Patch reported on the donation, Mulliner returned it, saying he did not want Neighbors United to find itself in the middle of a controversy. Days earlier, Mulliner's campaign called the group's endorsement and contribution "a pleasant surprise." Neither Mulliner nor Levin has stated a public position on the parking lots. Bram told Patch he opposed the restaurant's proposal as it stands now. The mayoral candidates have been touting their endorsements in recent weeks. Four of the current aldermen — Deuter, Bob Dunn, Tina Park and Dannee Polomsky — announced their support for Levin. Alderman Mike Brennan is backing his fellow Ward 7 alderman, Mulliner. Bram has received no endorsements from current council members, but former aldermen are supporting him. So is Shelly LeGere, the mother of the 13-year-old who died. Despite the pandemic, City Hall finances appear to be in relatively good shape. After the crisis began, the city instituted a hiring freeze and stopped road paving projects for a year. But in December, Alderwoman Noel Talluto, the City Council's finance committee chairwoman, warned the city budget was unacceptable. She said it would put the city on a path toward higher taxes and fees. At the time, she and others called for investigating six ideas for cost savings to avoid higher taxes. She later voted for the budget, despite the criticism. "I look forward to new ideas that could change the bottom line of the budget that we are considering tonight and together positioning Elmhurst on even stronger financial footing for the future," Talluto told the council. All three mayoral candidates voted for the budget. Whoever wins the mayoral race takes office in early May. Here are the candidates running in the City Council races (with links to candidate questionnaires in competitive races): Ward 1 Marti Deuter (incumbent) — a public policy consultant Ward 1 (two-year unexpired term) Kevin Flanagan — vice president of commercial services for a large commercial moving companySusan Smentek — managing director and associate producer for nonprofit organizationsJennifer Veremis (incumbent) — owner of two Elmhurst businesses, The Beauty Lounge and Goal.Get.Her Inc. Ward 2 Tristan Dacre — architectJacob Hill (incumbent) — associate professor and librarian at Elmhurst University Ward 3 Nektarios Arvanitis — strategic account and territory sales managerChris Jensen — energy strategist and finance professionalAlan Quarrie — owner of Q&Q Distributing Ward 4 Brian Cahill (incumbent) — president and CEO of Diesel Radiator Co. Ward 5 Tina Park (incumbent) — Fitness and lifestyle coach Ward 6 Peter Ahern — police officer Emily Bastedo — government relations and public affairs for a nonprofit tech association, attorneyPeter Dabertin — recently retired as sales engineer and manager Yeena Yoo — attorney Ward 7 Mike Brennan — vice president of professional services and commercial industries at Workday The polls are open 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. For more information on polling locations, visit the DuPage County clerk's website.