Here’s who’s running in Illinois Valley municipal races

Candidates filed Monday across the Illinois Valley for seats on their community governments.

Monday was the first day to file petitions for candidacy for most communities. Candidates will have until the closing of city offices Monday, Dec. 19, to get on the April 4 ballot.

La Salle

As of 4 p.m. Monday afternoon, six petitions were filed for four openings in La Salle’s city council.

First Ward Alderman Bob Thompson filed along with newcomer Gary Hammers. Second Ward incumbent Jerry Reynolds filed along with newcomer Amy Luth.

In the Third Ward, incumbent Joe Jeppson filed for candidacy and in the Fourth Ward incumbent Jordan Crane.

Ladd

Three candidates filed to get on the April ballot for Ladd Village Board. Incumbent trustee Janice “Jan” Martin, along with newcomers Bradley K. Nicholson and Andrew Ruggerio filed for their candidacy. The other two trustee seats up for election are held by Jim Manning and Mike Urbanowski.

Marseilles

Candidate names will be released at a later date. The clerk’s office didn’t supply names of candidates as of Monday afternoon, because the city’s clerk was out of the office with an excused absence.

Mendota

As of 3 p.m. Monday, no candidates have filed for Mendota City Council. There are four aldermen seats open, one in each of the first four wards. The seats are held by John Hessenberger, First Ward; John Holland, Second Ward; Jay Miller, Third Ward; and Mark Peasley, Fourth Ward.

Oglesby

Two petitions were filed Monday for Oglesby City Council. The mayor and four commissioner posts are up for election in April.

Jason Curran, a commissioner, filed for mayor. Incumbent Dom Rivara announced recently he will not seek another term.

Commissioner Terry Eutis also filed for City Council. This will be Eutis’ first contested race in Oglesby, as he was appointed to replace Carrie Lijewski.

Ottawa

As of 10 a.m. Monday, two petitions for Ottawa’s mayoral position were filed and eight petitions for commissioner seats were filed. The mayor post and four commissioners seats are available.

Mayor Dan Aussem and Robert Hasty have filed for mayor.

Commissioners Marla Pearson, James Less, Tom Ganiere, and Wayne Eichelkraut have all filed to keep their at-large commissioner seats while Frank Miller, Clayton Brown, Matt Skelly and Dylan Conmy have filed to run for the commissioner seats.

Peru

As of 4 p.m. Monday afternoon, eight petitions have been filed for four openings on Peru’s city council.

Three incumbents along with five newcomers have filed. Incumbent Jeff Ballard filed for First Ward alderman along with newcomers Heidi Heuser and Crystal Piwonski Loughran.

Incumbent Tom Payton and newcomer Andy Arnold both filed for Second Ward alderman. In the Third Ward, incumbent Dave Waldorf filed along with newcomer Rick O’Sadnick.

Newcomer Andy Moreno is the sole candidate who filed for Fourth Ward alderman, a seat held by Aaron Buffo.

Princeton

As of 3:30 p.m. Monday afternoon, incumbent Joel Quiram and challenger Ray Mabry have filed for Princeton mayor.

The city also has two open council seats in the upcoming election, as only incumbents Jerry Neumann and Hector Gomez have both filed for reelection.

Seneca

Seneca Mayor Jeff Olson filed for reelection Monday, joining five others who wish to put their names on the April ballot for four open commissioner positions.

Incumbents Kent Weber and Mark Victor filed for candidacy, as well as Scott Peddicord, Celia Rademacher and Joe Jankowski. No other person filed for the mayor seat.

Spring Valley

As of 3 p.m. Monday, incumbents in three of the four Spring Valley council races have filed for reelection. Ed Jauch filed in the First Ward; Deb Baltikauski in the Third Ward; and Ken Bogacz in the Fourth Ward. Jennifer Diaz, in the Second Ward, picked up her candidacy paperwork, but no one had filed yet for that seat as of Monday afternoon.

Streator

A mayoral race and four of five City Council seats will be up for grabs April 4. Streator’s candidate filing period was in November.

Mayor Tara Bedei, who was appointed mayor in January to succeed Jimmie Lansford, is seeking a full term. Councilman Brian Crouch, who has been on the council for nine years, will challenge Bedei for the mayor’s seat.

Incumbents Timothy Geary and Jacob Darby filed to run for two open four-year seats on the council, along with David Reed and Anthony Hartley. Geary was appointed to the council in September 2021 to succeed Joe Scarbeary, who resigned to accept a full-time position as the city’s building inspector. Darby was appointed to take Bedei’s seat when she was appointed mayor.

Utica

There are three trustee seats available on the Utica Village Board. They are seats held by John Schweickert, Nate Holland and Kylie Mattioda. All three filed for reelection. No other candidates had field as of Monday afternoon.