Prior to Tuesday’s election, Disclosure is bringing you the coverage we’ve given of the majority of our readership area so you’ll be aware of the contested races. This information is appearing in the current print version on stands right now, so if you need a hard copy of it, hurry and get out to pick one up; the new issue is due to hit the stands beginning April 16 and 17, which means we’ll have a full recap of election results in the new issue. In the interim, we’ve opted to go ahead and post the contents of the current issue’s front-page coverage of the ballots by county, to spur interest and ensure that everyone gets out and VOTES. There may not be many contested races, but that doesn’t mean these offices are not important. The school boards, township officials, aldermen/council seats, mayoral races and other items on the ballot, including ballot questions (such as whether a location should remain ‘dry,’ or whether a public safety tax should be imposed) are the bottom-line basics of public service…and they’re being abused daily in Illinois (and everywhere), so it’s important to PAY ATTENTION TO THEM. And the best “attention” you can pay to them is to show that we can do a better voter turnout locally than something in the teens or 20s.
So here is the seventh of the posts, which will conclude Monday and will be run alphabetically between now and then, continuing with Lawrence.
Lawrence County: Where’s MAX??
Bridgeport soon-to-be-ex-but-not-soon-enough mayor Mad Max Schauf
The most significant feature on any of the ballots in Lawrence County involves the absence of a name—Max Schauf.
In 2013, for the first time in 12 years, Schauf’s name doesn’t appear on the ballot, but it’s not because of his federal charges, unfortunately. Apparently, the current Bridgeport mayor made the decision before he was federally indicted back in early November 2012 that he wasn’t going to run for a fourth term, likely because either A—he could smell the change of sentiment toward his administration and the problems it’s caused for the taxpayers of Bridgeport or B—he decided he’d (allegedly) raked about as much money out of the city coffers for his personal use as he could get away with and determined he was in good enough shape to let that little habit go.
It wasn’t good enough for the feds, however, who indicted him on three counts of Mail Fraud for allegedly taking said money to cover his own bills, and one count of Obstruction for allegedly telling his sort-of (ex) son-in-law to lie to the feds if they came around questioning.
While that case is dragging through court in Benton, Schauf is conducting business as usual sans the alleged thievery…and another Bridgeport man has stepped forward to run for mayor: Brad Purcell. Purcell ran unsuccessfully for county board this past November, but he faces no challengers for this office, so come May, he’ll be Mayor Brad Purcell.
Contending for the seat of Alderman in Ward 1 this election is former Alderwoman Robin Wirth; she faces challengers David Hammel and James W. Hamilton, but will probably slide easily to victory in this ward. No other offices in Bridgeport are contested.
Hot race in Lawrenceville
Lawrenceville mayor Brian Straub & “girlfriend” Rachel Gard
In the city of Lawrenceville, the mayoral race has prompted much heat, particularly against incumbent Brian Straub, who’s been under fire from challenger Don Wagner openly for more than a year. The two will face a third contender, Ed Brumley, for the seat of mayor.
Wagner, on the mayoral ballot, of course isn’t running for his current position of city clerk; vying for that are Janice Laslie and James Rodney Nolan. Being that Janice Laslie has adequately pissed off every water user in Lawrenceville who has ever been late on their bill and had their water shut off (due to an incident in late 2010 wherein she and her husband Bruce ran up over $3,000 in late water bills until someone took notice of it, but never had their water shut off), Nolan is probably a shoe-in; the real question is whether, if Straub loses, whomever gets the job will finally get rid of the Laslies from the public teat in Lawrenceville.
Aldermen positions; St. F mayoral race; school district
One contest for Alderman exists in the ’ville: Ward 3, where David Courtney is challenging incumbent Don Goff…and will probably prevail, as Courtney is a proven leader, having held a position on the county board for a number of years, until about 2005.
The city of St. Francisville has a mayoral race: incumbent Stan Williams is being challenged by Don Ravellette. No council races are on the ballot, but at least all spots have a candidate.
And on the Red Hill School District No. 10 ballots impacting that area, there’s the same four-of-five as on the Crawford ballot in select locations: Ashley Ryan, Roger Kissen, Dixie Purcell, Bob Christy and Jim Legg.