May election will fill last Township Board vacancy

January 22, 2007 —

Fire up the optical scanners: Kochville Township voters will soon be facing a special election - again - on Tuesday, May 8 to fill a vacant seat on its five-seat Board of Trustees.

Quarterly elections are becoming a staple in the booming suburb, which has seen more than a 27 percent increase in population since 1990, according to U.S. Census reports.

Last February, voters rejected the Cardinal Townhomes rezoning plan by a nearly three-to-one margin. Last August, voters recalled four Board members, Supervisor Kenneth Bayne, Clerk George Schnepf, Treasurer Crystal Kauer, and Trustee Lynn Kauer, responsible for the initial rezoning of the 13.98 acres from single-family residential to mixed-use development.

Board members were elected in November to fill the remaining two years of the officials' terms, which are set to expire in November 2008.

This created a new problem, however. Trustee Patricia Bourdow, the only member of the original Board not recalled, was elected as supervisor, and resigned as a township trustee. Bourdow and newly-elected clerk Sheila Hill - both Democrats - have argued that Jim Loiciano, who finished second in votes for the already open trustee position in November, should be appointed to serve for the duration of the position.

Their position conflicted with the two Republican Board members, Treasurer Crystal Kauer, who was recalled and re-elected in a three-month span, and newly-elected Trustee Randall Norton, who defeated Loiciano and two others in the November election. Both Republicans preferred to interview applicants for the trustee position.

Applicants have until Tuesday, Jan 23 to submit their names for inclusion on the May ballot. The political parties will nominate candidates and submit names to the county clerk; unaffiliated candidates must submit the signatures of at least 21 township voters along with their registration.