Joliet council candidates starting to toss hats into ring

A handful of new candidates have announced they will run for Joliet City Council, and the potential field is likely to expand when nominating petitions become available later this month.

Already announcing their plans to run for council are:

• Quinn Adamowski, already active in city government where he chairs the city’s Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, Historic Preservation Commission and Arts Commission. He would be a candidate in District 2.

• Mike Eulitz, who retired in 2020 as the city’s public assets supervisor and roadways engineer. He would be a candidate in District 2.

• Rosa Hernandez, a member of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners. She would be a candidate in District 4.

• Cesar Cardenas, owner of Unidos Marketing Network located in downtown Joliet. He also would be a candidate in District 4.

The District 4 seat on the council is the one sure to be wide open with incumbent Bettye Gavin already stating that she will not seek reelection.

The council election on April 4, will be for the five district seats elected by residents in those districts, and the mayor.

Mayor Bob O’Dekirk announced in March that he would seek reelection to a third term, and car dealer Terry D’Arcy announced in June that he also will run for mayor.

District 5 also could be a wide open seat, depending on what Councilman Terry Morris decides to do.

Morris on Sept. 2 said he remains undecided on whether to run for reelection. He faces a nearly $28,000 fine for not filing timely campaign committee reports with the State Board of Elections, which says the fine must be paid before Morris can seek public office again.

Incumbents in the other three council districts all have said they intend to seek reelection.

Adamowski on Aug. 1, posted an announcement on his Facebook page that he intends to seek election in District 2.

The seat is now held by Pat Mudron who, in recent weeks, has become embroiled in investigations by the city’s inspector general into his insurance brokerage company’s involvement in providing coverage to the Rialto Square Theatre and Joliet Area Historical Museum.

Adamowski said he had been contemplating a run for a council seat for months, spoke to Mudron about his interest in April, and announced his candidacy on April 1, before any news of the insurance situation came out.

He said his interest in the council seat is unrelated to the Mudron insurance situation.

“I happen to live in District 2” Adamowski said. “I want to run for council. Pat happens to live in District 2.”

Eulitz would challenge Councilman Larry Hug, who heads the city’s Public Service Committee and has been an advocate for increased spending on city streets and sidewalks.

While infrastructure would be one focus of his campaign, Eulitz pointed to past council fights over the hiring of city managers and said he believes the council “can do better.”

Eulitz, who at one time applied for a city manager opening, pointed to a past consultant’s report during a city manager search when the council was told “you guys have to get together and work together to find talent.”

Just who is running for council and mayor won’t be definitely known until December when nominating petitions for the election must be filed.

Those petitions will not be available for circulation until Sept. 20.

Nominating petitions will not be available to council and mayoral candidates until later this month.