Steve Cuda, Wayne Jett among 4 considering running for McHenry mayor

McHENRY – Four people, including a former city mayor, have expressed interest in running for mayor of McHenry after current Mayor Susan Low announced her retirement.

Wayne Jett, Kim Ribar, Christopher Bennett and Steve Cuda have picked up petition packets for the position, McHenry Deputy City Clerk Marci Geraghty said.

The filing period for nonpartisan offices will take place between Dec. 12 and 19 at the respective government offices, which also is where petition packets may be picked up.

Low has been the mayor of McHenry since 2003, and said this month she won't be running for re-election in April because it was time to move on.

Cuda, a lawyer at Hamer, Schuh & Cuda Attorneys, was mayor of McHenry from 1993 to 2001 and has served as a board member and board president for the McHenry High School District 156 Board.

The 62-year-old and lifelong McHenry resident said now that his three daughters are grown, he’d like to get back in local government.

“It was a good eight years of [being] mayor of the city, and I’d like to bring that leadership back to the town,” Cuda said.

He said during his time as mayor, the government worked hard to annex properties in McHenry east of the Fox River, and if he were elected again, he would like to focus on economic development on the east side of the city.

After Low said she wasn’t running for office, 33-year-old Jett said he decided to run to continue her legacy while pushing to bring more businesses to the city.

Jett owns Jett’s Heating and Air Inc. in McHenry and has three young children, with a fourth on the way.

Many in McHenry are between 25 and 45 and have young children, Jett said in a statement. “I think we need people in office to represent them. We don’t have as many ‘family-friendly’ businesses as our neighboring communities.”

Jett said he doesn’t have any previous political experience, but said that shouldn’t be a problem once people get to know who he is and the difference he can make in the city.

Low said she is not backing any candidate running for the position.

“It takes a lot of courage to run for public office, so may the best person win,” Low said.

– Northwest Herald reporter
Nate Linhart contributed