Schielke secures 12th term as Batavia mayor, St. Charles’ Vitek appears headed to defeat

Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke appeared to secure his 12th term Tuesday, keeping him in the post he’s held since 1981.

Schielke had 2,620 votes, and challenger Tom Connelly had 2.294, according to unofficial results.

Schielke is believed to be the third-longest-serving current mayor or president in Illinois.

Connelly was an alderman for about 1½ years starting in October 2021, and is on the Historic Preservation Commission.

“An important issue to my campaign and vision for the future of Batavia is the lack of progress and stalled development in our downtown,” Connelly said in a Daily Herald questionnaire.

Schielke said he ran again because there are several projects in process he wants to see completed, including restoration of the downtown business district, upgrading of the banks of the Fox River, revitalization of several industrial plants and dealing with increasing traffic along Kirk Road, Randall Road and Fabyan Parkway.

Geneva

The Geneva mayor’s race was close Tuesday night, with the incumbent appeared headed to victory.

Kevin Burns, who has been mayor for 24 years, faced newcomer Karsten Pawlik, who has not served on any municipal board. Burns had 2,945 votes to Pawlik’s 2,827 in unofficial tallies.

Burns was much criticized by Pawlik and other residents over a developer who has built one low-income housing development in town and wants to build another, this time at the south end of the downtown. The critics contended Burns had secretly supported the plan by writing a letter to the Illinois Housing Development Authority in support of the developer getting low-income housing tax credits, and that the developer has poorly managed the existing development.

Pawlik also criticized how city government has been run, saying processes such as obtaining building permits need to be streamlined and that historic-preservation rules for houses should be changed to prevent non-owners from nominating properties as landmarks.

St. Charles

In St. Charles, incumbent Lora Vitek appeared headed to defeat.

Former Kane County chief judge Clint Hull had 4,748 votes to Vitek’s 3,322, according to unofficial returns in Kane and DuPage counties. Hull had criticized Vitek’s leadership style, saying she did not consult all council members on decisions. Vitek said Hull lacked municipal government experience. Hull had been president of the St. Charles park board.

Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow voters picked a new village president for the first time in 24 years, electing Trustee Courtney Boe to succeed Stephan Pickett.

Pickett did not seek reelection.

Boe had 567 votes, while Jennifer McGuire had 338 votes. Both are currently village trustees.

“The most common topic I hear from residents is that they don’t know what’s going on,” Boe said in a previous Daily Herald article. “They don’t feel they can voice their opinions because they don’t feel heard or engaged.” Boe said she would make village board packets available before meetings, and keep regular office hours.

McGuire said she would allow residents to ask questions at board meetings.

“I will not be silencing our residents,” she said.

Carpentersville

Carpentersville President John Skillman won reelection, with 1,234 votes to opponent Brenda Sandoval’s 315. Skillman has been president since 2017, and he used to be the village’s fire chief. Sandoval was elected trustee in 2021.

East Dundee

Daniel Pearson had 357 votes late Tuesday to Sarah Brittin’s 296 in the race to replace outgoing incumbent Jeff Lynam. Brittin has been a trustee since 2021. Pearson is a fire commissioner for the East Dundee Fire Protection District.

Huntley

Timothy Hoeft was well on his way to a second term as president Tuesday, with 1,128 votes to Trustee John Piwko’s 416.

Sugar Grove

Incumbent Jen Konen was ousted by Sugar Grove voters Tuesday.

Opponent Sue Stillwell had 1,347 votes to Konen’s 975. Konen was elected in 2021. Many Sugar Grove residents criticized her for pushing for approval of a controversial 761-acre industrial, commercial and residential development at I-88 and Route 47, despite protests from hundreds of village and nearby residents.