Just 1 Darien District Sees Competition

DARIEN, IL – Center Cass School District 66 is set to see competition in the school board election in April.

Meanwhile, candidates in Darien District 61 and Cass District 63 are unopposed. The filing deadline was Monday.

In Center Cass, incumbents Lori Hoffman, Beth Bukey and Joan Cullen are not running again.

Five candidates are vying for the three open seats. They are Edson Burton, Nikki Giancola-Shanks, Tiffany Watson, Megan DuPass and Doug Wiley.

The incumbents are leaving after a contentious referendum in November. A narrow majority of Center Cass voters approved a nearly 20 percent increase in the district's part of the property tax bill. In June, a similar measure failed.

In Darien District 61, not enough people filed to run for the available positions.

Incumbents Travis Myers, Lauren Kaeseberg and Carolyn Flores are seeking the four available four-year seats.

No one submitted paperwork for the seat with an unexpired two-year term.

Residents can still file as write-in candidates. If not enough candidates run to fill available positions, then the board chooses residents to fill the seats after the election.

In Cass District 63, four seats with four-year terms are available. Incumbents Rinku Patel and Lana Johnson are running again. The other candidates are Liz Mitha and Kathryn Marinelli.

Incumbent Chris Green is the lone candidate for the unexpired two-year term.