Two Oswego Trustees Are No-Shows Over Election Filing Controversy

Two Village of Oswego trustees skipped a Monday night special meeting amid controversy over the filing period for the April 7 election.

On Monday, the board was to discuss a proposal to repeal a resolution approved in July stating that, going forward, the village will follow the non-partisan election process.

Prior to the meeting, trustees Terry Michels and Scott Volpe announced that they would not be in attendance.

Michels, who is running for village president, and trustee candidate Diane Selmer were the two to file petitions by the Nov. 24 deadline for non-partisan elections. Several other candidates believed they had until Dec. 22 to file, in keeping with past village practice and incorrectly stated in candidate election packets and on the village website, according to Only Oswego.

At a Dec. 2 board meeting, trustee and village president candidate Tony Giles accused Michels of “Springfield, Michael Madigan-ish” tactics, noting that Michels’ packet was filed shortly before the 5 p.m. Nov. 24 deadline, the site reported.

Meanwhile, Michels said he became aware of the earlier deadline two weeks after picking up his election packet from the village clerk’s office. He said the packet contained information from the Illinois State Board of Elections that noted the non-partisan filing deadline of Nov. 24.

Three seats on the village board and the village president position are up for election on April 7. Unless the other candidates are allowed on the ballot, only Michels and Selmer would be in the running, Only Oswego reported.

On Monday afternoon, trustee Scott Volpe released a statement saying he would not attend the meeting, citing legal concerns.

“The sole purpose of this meeting is to repeal Resolution No. 14-R-34, which due to procedural issues cannot be accomplished at this meeting,” Volpe said.

He added, “repealing 14-R-34 is strongly cautioned against for a variety of reasons,” saying actions to “tamper with” the election process already under way would be “at best unethical, at worst illegal and could be viewed as violating the constitutional rights of some of our citizens.”

At the Dec. 2 village board meeting, attorney Karl Ottosen warned that repealing the July ordinance could open up the village to legal action.

An hour before the Dec. 8 special meeting, Michels issued a press release saying he would not be in attendance “based upon the advice of my attorney due to the significant legal implication.”

According to the village attorney, the full village board would have had to be present to repeal their earlier vote, the Beacon-News reported.

Listen to audio of the Dec. 2 meeting here.