Three candidates on ballot for Rock Falls City Council 3rd Ward seat, two for 2nd Ward seat

ROCK FALLS – With seven seats on the Rock Falls City Council up for election in April, only two incumbent aldermen will go up against an opponent to retain their seat.

The openings come as the terms of Mayor Rod Kleckler, 1st Ward Alderman Bill Wangelin, 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Snow, 2nd Ward Alderman Vickey Byrd, 3rd Ward Alderman Steve Dowd, 4th Ward Alderman Violet Sobottka, 4th Ward Alderman Cathy Arduini, City Treasurer Kay Abner and City Clerk Pam Martinez all end in April, Rock Falls Business Office Superintendent Michelle Conklin said.

In the 2nd Ward, running for a four-year term, Snow – who has held on to his seat for more than two decades – will go up against former 4th Ward Alderman Marshall Doane. In the 3rd Ward, also running for a four-year term, Dowd will face off against newcomers Mary McNeill and Austin Zink, Conklin said.

Snow was first elected to his 2nd Ward seat in 2005 and has been reelected four times.

Doane ran for a four-year 4th Ward seat in 2021 against Sobottka. He lost the election but was appointed to a two-year term as the second 4th Ward representative alongside Sobottka. He resigned in 2022 after purchasing a home outside 4th Ward boundaries, Doane said in an interview with Shaw Local.

Doane has lived in Rock Falls almost his entire life and works as a logistics coordinator with Riverside Logistics in Sterling. He also owns his own business, Phoenix Wicks Candle Co.

As for the 3rd Ward, Dowd, a retired Northwestern Steel and Wire worker, was first elected in 2021 by defeating 12-year incumbent Jim Schuneman.

One of Dowd’s opponents is newcomer Zink, who as a 25-year-old is looking to get more young people involved in the city. He will be graduating from Northern Illinois University in May and works at Anne’s Garden Center in Dixon, Zink said in an interview with Shaw Local.

He has lived in Rock Falls his whole life and is a Rock Falls High School and Sauk Valley Community College graduate, Zink said.

Candidates running unopposed

Kleckler is running unopposed for reelection. His time on the council began in 2015, when he was elected to the 3rd Ward seat by defeating 24-year incumbent Dave Hand. Kleckler was reelected to the seat in 2019 after running unopposed.

In anticipation of the upcoming election, former Mayor Bill Wescott said in October that he planned on running against Kleckler, but he will not be on the April ballot.

Conklin said Wescott filed his petition but withdrew it before the Nov. 18 deadline. Wescott did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

It would have been the second time Kleckler and Wescott ran against each other for the seat. The first was in 2021, when Kleckler defeated Wescott, the eight-year incumbent, by only one vote.

Also running unopposed is incumbent Wangelin. He is running for a four-year 1st Ward seat. Byrd is running for a two-year 2nd Ward seat, and incumbent Sobottka is seeking a four-year 4th Ward seat. Cathy Arduini is running for a two-year 4th Ward term.

Wangelin was first appointed to his 1st Ward seat in January 2019 for a two-year term. He was elected in 2021 to his current four-year term.

Byrd was appointed in January to the 2nd Ward seat that had been empty since the April 2023 election, when former Alderman Casey Babel did not run for reelection. Byrd is now running for election to serve for two years and complete the unexpired four-year term.

Arduini was appointed to her 4th Ward seat in January 2023 and, like Byrd, is running for a two-year term to complete the unexpired four-year term. Sobottka, who was first appointed to the 4th Ward seat in May 2017, was elected in 2019. She was reelected in 2021 to her current term.

As for other elected positions within the city, Abner is running unopposed for reelection as city treasurer, a position she’s held since 2013.

Martinez is running unopposed for city clerk. Martinez was first appointed to the position in October 2021.

Election day is April 1, and there will be no primary election in Whiteside County, Whiteside County Clerk Dana Nelson said.

Statewide, early voting begins Feb. 20. In Whiteside County, it is held at the courthouse at 200 E. Knox St. in Morrison, Nelson said.