DeKalb Mayor Greg Sparrow is looking for someone to fill the recently-vacated alderman seat in the city’s student dominated 1st Ward.

Because of the July 31 mid-term resignation of Christine Hoagland, former 1st Ward alderman, Sparrow said he plans to accept applications through late September and submit his top three choices for the position to the DeKalb City Council as soon as October 22.

Hoagland held her office for more than three years and said she left her position on the council to pursue a master’s degree in public administration from NIU.

Sparrow intends to leave the seat vacant until the council decides upon an appointment. He expects the new alderman to be seated by November 1, 1990 and hold the position through May 1991.

To qualify for the position, applicants must have lived in DeKalb for one year prior to November 1 and lived in the 1st Ward area and be a registered voter for at least 30 days before submitting his application, he said.

Sparrow said he is “expecting NIU students from the ward to apply for the position” since it is a highly-populated student and Greek area. Almost 80 percent of the 1st Ward district is comprised of NIU students and Greeks, he said.

“This doesn’t preclude non-students from applying and holding the office, though,” he said.

Marg Herceg, PanHellenic Council vice president of membership-selection, said “as far as I know there have been people from the Greek community who have been interested in this position before.”

Herceg said she thinks a Greek member would be “very qualified for the position because it’s a Greek area and Greeks have a lot of concerns in DeKalb which need to be heard.”

“There are a lot of strong leaders in the Greek system who would be qualified and might be interested once they find out that the position is open,” Herceg said.

Sixth Ward Alderman and NIU student Jamie Pennington also expects NIU students to apply for the 1st Ward seat. “For a good ten years or so, a student has held the 1st Ward alderman position,” he said.

In reviewing applications, Sparrow said he will look for someone who is “pro-economic development—someone with an interest in the expansion of the DeKalb’s economic base. Also, someone who will be compatible with the rest of the council,” he said

Pennington, who has held his position for one and one-half years, said a good candidate for the position would be someone who “knows what is going on in city government, knows the people in his ward, and will be able to communicate well to his constituency.”