Patch Election HQ

Meet Your Candidates: Mary Therese Small, River Forest Library Board of Trustees

Longtime resident hopes to secure spot on library board.

Mary Therese Small, 78, is aiming for a spot on the River Forest Public Library Board of Trustees, the seven-member group responsible for shaping the library's fiscal and operating policies.  Members of the library board serve six-year terms. This year, three seats are up for election. Four candidates — Small, Thomas Smedinghoff, Jennifer Rice Epstein and Claudette Zobel — are vying for spots on the board. Small is retired from her work in marketing research for a major food company. Her day job now, she said, is "having fun." From 2008 to 2010, she served on the Board of Trustees at St. Xavier University, where she was also chair of the President's Library Board. Currently, she serves on the River Forest Township senior services board.  …

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Patch Election HQ

Meet Your Candidates: David Sokol, Oak Park Library Board of Trustees

Candidate David Sokol, a veteran of public life, makes a bid for uncontested seat.

David Sokol, 68, is running as a write-in candidate for a spot on the seven-member Oak Park Public Library Board of Trustees, the group responsible for shaping the library's fiscal and operating policies.  Members serve four-year terms. This year, three seats are up for election and only three candidates — Sokol and incumbents Janet Kelenson and Lane Hart — are running, making the election uncontested.  Sokol, professor emeritus in the art history department at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has three times chaired the village's historical preservation commission and has served on the Oak Park plan commission. Currently, he chairs the village's public art commission. Patch: How would you assess the state of the library’s budget? …

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Patch Election HQ

Voting Registration Reminder

Deadline draws closer for the April 5 consolidated elections.

As we continue to cook up our election coverage here at Oak Park-River Forest Patch HQ, please consider this a public service announcement: the deadline to register to vote in the April 5 consolidated election is Tuesday, March 8.  "Voter participation in local elections is crucial if residents want to influence issues closely affecting their communities," Cook County Clerk David Orr said in a statement. "Unfortunately, less than a third of registered voters typically cast ballots in the consolidated election." (See the chart below.) How do you register? Good question. And most of the answers can be found in this accompanying YouTube video, produced by the Cook County Clerk's Office.  A few important reminders:   And if you've moved …

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Know Your Polling Place

Thousands turn out to vote early.

More than 83,000 voters in suburban Cook County took advantage of early voting, election officials said. At Oak Park Village Hall, one of 43 early voting sites in suburban Cook County, more than 2,300 people cast their ballots. Early voting wrapped up Thursday. If you missed your chance to vote early (and certainly not often), Oak Park-River Forest Patch has compiled a handy map — posted on the right side of this page — displaying the polling places and precinct information for voters on Nov. 2. Zoom in and click away. Unsure of your precinct? Simply fill out your address on the "Voter Information" page on Cook County Clerk David Orr's website. There, you can find your polling place, a sample ballot and a list of your elected officials, as…

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With Bid For House, Princess Dempsey Sets Sights on Political Royalty

In the 7th House District, independent newcomer vies for seat held by incumbent Karen Yarbrough.

In the 7th District House race, political newcomer Princess Cynthia Dempsey is squaring off against five-term Democratic incumbent Representative Karen Yarbrough. The 7th District touches portions of Oak Park and River Forest, as well as sections of Chicago's Austin community, Forest Park, Maywood, Bellwood, Westchester, Melrose Park and Hillside. Dempsey, 43, is a former mortgage processor with relatively little political experience, recently serving a stint on the human service commission in Downers Grove, her former residence. She is running as an independent. In a recent interview with Oak Park-River Forest Patch, Dempsey, a Bellwood native and mother of three, explained that her lack of political experience is actually an advantage …

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Oak Park Voters to Consider Vaccine Referendum

Local advocate stresses transparency in listing ingredients of inoculations.

Voters in Oak Park will be asked on Nov. 2 if they would like to require those who administer vaccines to provide accompanying literature listing a medicine manufacturer's vaccine ingredients. Specifically, the referendum asks: Shall the Village of Oak Park require those who inject vaccines, in the Village of Oak Park, to give the vaccine recipients, their parents or guardians the vaccine manufacturer's specific package inserts of the vaccines they will receive, and to inform them that, thimerosal/mercury-containing vaccines, including but not limited to, influenza (flu), meningococcal (meningitis) and tetanus vaccines, may contain 3 1/2 times the daily toxic dose of mercury exposure for an 148-pound adult? The ballot question originated …

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