Four more candidates join three local races

By Tyler Vincent

The deadline for April mayoral and aldermanic candidates to officially file paperwork passed Tuesday.

Turning in packets on the final day were NIU student Andrew Anderson, who announced his candidacy for mayor Monday night; Michael Nolan and Charles Faivre, who are seeking the open 4th Ward chair; and Copy Service owner David Baker, who filed for the 6th Ward race.

Four candidates will seek the mayor’s office, including incumbent Bessie Chronopoulos, former mayor Greg Sparrow, Anderson and freelance writer Keith Justice, a park district employee who filed his papers Monday.

“I don’t think that a lot of people are satisfied with the job Bessie is doing,” said Justice, a 1996 NIU graduate. “And Greg has already done the job before, so I think the people are ready for someone new.”

Justice said he will release more information on his campaign soon.

Filing day brought surprising news from the 6th Ward race as NIU student James Regelin withdrew his name, citing his discovery that he did not live in the district and therefore couldn’t seek the office.

Regelin, who filed his campaign packet Monday, resides in Douglas Hall, which is in the 7th Ward, close to the 6th Ward line.

Now, NIU student Luke Coyne, a DeKalb Liquor Commission member, will battle Baker, who said he decided to get in the race after reading a Northern Star article listing Coyne as the only candidate running for the open seat.

“I said, ‘That guy is running unopposed?'” Baker said. “That’s what spurred me into it.”

Baker said he wants to make the community better.

“I’ve lived here for over 25 years,” he said. “I was a student at NIU and I decided to make my home here. I’ve got an open mind and I’m willing to listen to the constituency of the 6th Ward.”

Ald. Aaron Raffel, the current 6th Ward representative, will not seek re-election. In the 4th Ward, Nolan and Faivre, an NIU Biology Department employee, filed packets for the open seat left by Ald. Miguel Checa, who also won’t run again.

“I care very deeply about my community and its future,” Faivre said. “I’ve been pretty active in city government, and I have become well-acquainted with its department and its functions.”

Faivre, who helped form the DeKalb Cultural Affairs Commission, said his campaign issues include favoring managed development in the community and working to improve relations between NIU and DeKalb.

“I am a lifelong resident,” he said. “I am very interested in the people of DeKalb having a voice on how their community develops.”

Repeated attempts to reach Nolan by phone were unsuccessful.

No other candidates filed Tuesday in the 2nd Ward, where a council seat will be contested by incumbent Kris Povlsen and his opponent, Bryan Klatt, co-owner of Kallal’s Sheet Metal Inc.