Two Hebron village president candidates withdraw from race, throw support behind challenger to incumbent

Two of the four candidates running for Hebron village president said they no longer are running for the seat and instead are throwing their support behind another candidate, challenger Robert Shelton.

Steve Vole, who withdrew from the race along with Josh Stevens, said he made the move because he didn’t want to split the vote of those looking for a replacement to incumbent Village President Kimmy Martinez.

“For the sake of Hebron, we can’t take another four years of Kimmy Martinez,” Vole said.

In a statement released on Facebook, Stevens said his decision to withdraw came after he did some “critical thinking” about the future of Hebron.

“I truly believe that Hebron needs a change from the current administration and it is very clear to me that for us to continue on as we have been would be detrimental to our community,” Stevens wrote. “I believe that we need to end the division that is so apparent within our community and we need to come together as a united front in order to move forward.”

Stevens said it is important to get behind a single candidate to move forward “into a new and better chapter.”

Both Stevens and Vole said they would supporting Shelton, who describes himself as semi-retired, meaning he currently is not working but he could if he felt he had to. At 62 years old, he said he has not yet claimed Social Security.

This, Vole said, gives Shelton more time to be village president than he and Stevens would have.

“[Shelton] is willing to listen,” Vole said. “This job needs somebody that’s in town.”

Vole said Martinez spends much of her time with her boyfriend, who lives out of town – a claim Martinez refuted, saying as a business owner, she travels a lot but is always in Hebron, where she lives, when she is not traveling.

“These are rumors started by people who were unhappy ... that I was doing the job that the village of Hebron residents voted me in to do,” Martinez said. “I certainly live here, reside here, rest my head here and work here. And it’s appalling that people have nothing better to do with their time than start rumors and conjecture and state falsities.”

When asked what would happen if he won the race, as he still is on the ballot, Vole was adamant this would not happen.

“We’re doing this ahead of time,” Vole said.

McHenry County Clerk Joe Tirio said although Vole and Stevens are past the deadline to officially drop out of the race, they can decide they won’t campaign anymore or ask people to support someone else.

“We can’t take them off the ballot at this point,” Tirio said.

Vole acknowledged some people have voted early but said he and Stevens are getting the word out in “full force” to tell people to vote for Shelton instead.

“Reality sets in,” Vole said. “I was the first one to drop out. I said, ‘If we don’t do this, she’s getting back in there. And we get four more years of her.’ We can’t do that.”

Martinez said her former and current opponents don’t understand the hours one has to put in to serve as village president.

“It may be a part-time village president position, but to be effective and to get things accomplished, you need to put in many hours,” Martinez said. “It’s not a 9-to-5 job. It is days, evenings, weekends, holidays, and you do whatever you have to do to help the village.”

Shelton said he knows the work it takes to be Hebron’s top public official, adding that he is running to ensure the welfare of Hebron going forward and to take care of what needs to be changed.

“When you go outside as a voter – and I say this as a voter – when you go to the polls or that voter heads to the polls, look around at the streets, the sidewalks, the housing developments, in the neighborhoods,” Shelton said. “The real question here is, and it’s been rooting for a good amount of time now, as a voter, are you happy with the decisions that are being made for you?

“There are things that need to be changed and reworked and reset up for the betterment of this town.”

In an election promotional video on YouTube, Shelton said Hebron’s water bills are too high, the village’s sewage treatment plant is also in disrepair and its old and crumbling infrastructure needs to be addressed. If elected village president, Shelton said he would increase and monitor the village’s grants and go to Springfield to meet with legislators when needed.

Martinez said her record stands on its own, pointing to negotiating lower interest rates from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency as well as with Prairieland Disposal and Recycling Services over a waste removal contract. She also cited the expansion of the police department from part time to full time and the creation of a fund meant to help residents who are having trouble paying their water bills.

“We are one of the few municipalities in the state of Illinois that has not had to cut our staff hours, lay off any staff or cut village services because we forecasted and budgeted very well,” she said.