Jim McFarland, Troy Township clerk, is the first candidate -- other than the three incumbents -- to announce his bid to run for the Joliet City Council.
McFarland issued a statement Monday declaring his intent to seek one of three at-large council seats that will be filled in the April 2013 election.
“During the past few months, several community groups, labor organizations and Joliet citizens have encouraged me to run for dity council," McFarland said in the announcement.
"Their confidence in my abilities as a consensus builder and effective problem solver, as well as my desire to improve our neighborhoods, has inspired me to run for city council.”
McFarland is a Joliet native who, prior to becoming township clerk a year ago, was a Troy Township trustee and a Joliet Junior College Board member.
In addition to the incumbents, about a half dozen people have pulled petitions, City Clerk Christa Desiderio said Monday. However, it's possible that not all of them will complete the forms and submit them to her office between the Dec. 14 to 26 filing period.
(The General Assembly voted last week to extend the filing period from Dec. 24 to Dec. 26 because of the Christmas holiday.)
Also, the person pulling the petition may not be the candidate but someone doing it on his or her behalf, Allen said. Or a potential candidate could obtain the forms online from the state of Illinois Web site, and thus the city clerk would not be aware of them until they filed, she said.
Among those who have taken out petitions and presumably are mulling election runs are Kevin Hegarty, former city of Joliet public information officer and unsuccessful mayoral candidate; Vanessa Romeo, a Joliet Junior College instructor and former vice president for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties; and Chris Lunningham, a Democratic precinct committeewoman and chairwoman of Joliet City Councilwoman Susie Barber's election campaign.
The three incumbents are Mike Turk, Jan Quillman and Don Fisher.
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