THURSDAY
A pri l 9, 2015 • $ 1 .0 0
MAKING A SPLASH
DAILY CHRONICLE
DeKalb-Sycamore’s Hein grabs two firstplace finishes in national meet / B1 HIGH
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By DAILY CHRONICLE news@daily-chronicle.com
Monica Synett – msynett@shawmedia.com
Tally judges Margaret Bassett (left) and Stephanie Simons make sure all the ballots and paperwork are present for the specific precinct Tuesday at the DeKalb County Legislative Building in DeKalb.
Voters, candidates wait for final vote counts after low turnout By BRETT ROWLAND browland@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Candidates and voters are anxiously awaiting the final results of Tuesday’s election in several close races, but DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder Doug Johnson says winners and losers won’t be sorted out until the vote is certified April 23. Tuesday’s election had the lowest voter turnout out in more than a decade, with less than 8 percent of registered voters casting ballots. As a result, candidates in several races were separated by slim margins and the two candidates vying to represent the Seventh Ward on DeKalb’s City Council were one vote apart. “Here’s a prime example of how one vote counts,” DeKalb County Clerk & Recorder Doug Johnson said Wednesday. During the 2013 consolidated election in DeKalb County,
candidates in several key races also made it impossible to tell with certainty who was elected in several races Tuesday night. A final tally of votes for individual write-in candidates won’t be available until the election results are certified April 23, Johnson said. Johnson declined to release the number of absentee and other ballots left to be counted in specific races, and said his office would follow state laws and procedures for tabulating and certifying the results. He said all of the results would be released at the same time – no race would get preferential treatment. “I understand the desire to get results, but there are still votes to be counted,” Johnson Election judges file into a line that extends out the door, waiting to be checked in Tuesday at the DeKalb said. “But no more informaCounty Legislative Building. tion will be released at this time. Everything will be revoter turnout was 22 percent; cent and 2005’s was 28 percent. ing to records from the DeKalb leased after the vote is certithe same election in 2011 gen- By contrast, DeKalb County County Clerk & Recorder’s Of- fied.” erated a 12 percent turnout. had a 72 percent turnout in the fice. See ELECTION, page A2 A contingent of write-in The 2007 turnout was 23 per- 2012 general election, accord-
SYCAMORE – Kreg Wesley will take over as principal at South Prairie Elementary School after the end of this school year, while Lynn Reilly will be District 427’s next director of special education, district officials said Wednesday. Wesley is the Sycamore-based school district’s director of operations, a position he has held for the past 10 years. He also has been assistant principal and the dean of students at Sycamore High School. Wesley will assume his new role at South Kreg Wesley Prairie on July 1, taking over for Principal Julie Graves. “It is with honor and great pleasure that I accept the position of principal Lynn Reilley of South Prairie Elementary School in Sycamore,” Wesley said in a news release. “Through collaboration with the South Prairie Elementary staff, we will support the mission and core values of the district, ‘To Empower All Learners to Succeed in Their World.’ ” Wesley and his wife, Diane, and their two daughters, Reagan and Taylor, live in Sycamore. Diane is a kindergarten teacher at North Grove Elementary School. Reilly also will begin in her new role on July 1, coming to Sycamore from the Geneva school district, where she has been assistant director of student services for the past three years. “I am passionate about the work we do in education to support the academic and social/emotional success for all the students we serve,” Reilly said in a news release. “I am looking forward to being part of a collaborative team with Sycamore’s administrators, staff, parents, board of education, and community. ... I believe that together we make a difference in the lives of students and have an impact on our world.”
Emanuel acknowledges challenges in 2nd Chicago mayoral term By SOPHIA TAREEN and SARA BURNETT The Associated Press CHICAGO – After surviving an unexpectedly tough campaign for a second term, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Wednesday that Chicago’s challenges “don’t need to be made harder if I have a stylistic issue” but gave few details about how he’ll change his approach. Emanuel was re-elected with a double-digit victory over Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia in Tuesday’s runoff. But that
round took place only because the former White House chief of staff failed to win an outright majority in February, despite a massive advantage in fundraising and name recognition over four challengers. In the second campaign burst, the famously aggressive mayor said he’d soften his approach. “If my style, as I said on the campaign, contributed and made what is already a hard issue harder, I own that,” Emanuel told reporters Wednesday, echoing television commercials and campaign speeches. But when asked how he
planned to alter his management style, he said there wasn’t a checklist and the election was a second chance to continue successes of the first four years. “I enjoy campaigns because you hear things, you learn things that matter to people,” he said. “You take those voices, those concerns into your office and ... make them your north stars.” Emanuel, who received congratulation calls from Obama and former President Bill Clinton, said he and the city have their work cut out for them. His administration now
must negotiate a new contract with the Chicago Teachers Union. Its president, Karen Lewis, considered challenging Emanuel but helped recruit Garcia to run after she was diagnosed with cancer. The last round of talks between Emanuel and the Rahm union led to Emanuel Chicago’s first teachers strike in 25 years. Tensions deepened the following year in 2013 when Emanuel pushed to close dozens of
neighborhood schools. Emanuel will have to work with teachers and other public-employee labor unions to address the worst pension crisis of any major U.S. city. Chicago’s four pension systems are about $20 billion in debt, and the fund for Chicago Public Schools teachers is short about $7 billion of what’s needed to pay benefits as promised. If Emanuel can’t work a deal with labor unions or get the Illinois Legislature to approve relief, the city is on the hook for an additional $550 million payment to the retire-
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ment accounts, bringing the total payment to about $1 billion. He’s said that would be roughly equal to the annual cost of having 4,300 police officers on the street or raising property taxes by 150 percent. Emanuel didn’t delve into those details Wednesday, saying he was prepared to work with Republican Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner. The two are friends but recently have been at odds publicly over proposed state budget cuts. Emanuel said Rauner called him Tuesday evening to offer congratulations.
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