13 Vie for 5 Seats on LW210 School Board

NEW LENOX, IL - Thirteen candidates are seeking five open spots in one of the most hotly contested school board races in the history of Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210.

Incumbents seeking re-election are current board president Dee Molinare and board members Joseph Kosteck, Christopher Kosel, Christopher Lucchetti and Joseph Kirkeeng.

Challengers are Karen Town, Lee Talley, Cathy Pleasant, Gus Yiakos, Ben Yomtoob, Aaron Janik, Beth Janus-Doyle and Robert Ripp.

Town, Janus-Doyle, Talley, Ripp and Kirkeeng are seeking the unexpired two-year term and Yiakos, Yomtoob, Pleasant, Kosteck, Molinare, Janik, Lucchetti and Kosel are seeking the full four-year terms.

The “Citizens for 210” group has endorsed a slate they refer to as “TTYYP” - Town and Talley for the two-year terms and Yiakas, Yomtoob and Pleasant for the four-year terms.

The Lincoln-Way Education Association is supporting Janus-Doyle, Janik, Lucchetti and Molinare.

The mayors of all four municipalities that lie in the district (New Lenox, Frankfort, Mokena, Manhattan) are all endorsing Kirkeeng, Janik and Kosteck.

Here’s how the candidates will appear on the ballot when you go to vote on April 4. Early voting has already begun.

For 2-year term (vote for 2)
Karen Town
Beth Janus-Doyle
Lee R. Talley
Robert J. Ripp
Joseph A. Kirkeeng

For 4-year term (vote for 3)
Gus Yiakos
Ben Yomtoob
Catherine Vasilakis Pleasant
Joseph M. Kosteck
Dee Molinare
Aaron Janik
Christopher Lucchetti
Chris Kosel

A number of candidates have set up websites and Facebook pages for their campaign. They are linked above. Others have stated their platforms via videos on Vimeo, which are also linked above.

A number of candidate forums have been held. Take a look at the one held by the New Lenox Chamber of Commerce below.