Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect an incumbent candidate not running for reelection, which means that the April 2023 election in District 91 will be uncontested.
The upcoming April municipal election promises to be competitive, while the park district incumbents face no challengers and the Forest Park School District 91 candidates, barring any last-minute write-in entries, will win by default.
While several candidates announced their intent to run months ahead of the Dec. 19 filing deadline, there were a handful of late entries. And Tuesday morning the Cook County Clerk’s office said it was still processing some school board petitions with final results not clear until after the Review’s print deadline.
Incumbent mayor Rory Hoskins is facing off against John Doss, currently a park district commissioner. There are six candidates vying for four village commissioner seats, while, at Forest Park School District 91, four candidates are vying as of deadline for four seats. The Park District of Forest Park Board of Commissioners, on the other hand, only has the three incumbents running to keep their seats.
Village hall races
The race for mayor has been set for a while, with both Hoskins and Doss announcing their intention to run in late May. While there have been rumors of another candidate joining the race, they were the only two candidates to file nominating petitions by deadline.
Doss has served as park commissioner since 2007. Most recently, he was re-elected in 2019 to a six-year term. If he wins the mayoralty, the park board would need to appoint a replacement to serve out the remaining two years. Hoskins is seeking a second term as mayor.
While commissioner Joe Byrnes decided to retire, the remaining three incumbents are running for re-election. Commissioners Jessica Voogd and Ryan Nero are running for a second term, while Commissioner Maria Maxham, who was the Review editor until she was appointed to replace commissioner Dan Novak in July 2021, is running for the first time.
Grant writer and development professional Michelle Melin-Rogovin was spotted passing nominating petitions for commissioner in late September. But the race also had some late entries – real estate broker Joe Landgrebe and former park district employee Ryan Russ. While Landgrebe and Melin-Rogovin are political neophytes, Russ ran unsuccessfully for village commissioner in 2019.
Landgrebe told the Review he’s been interested in politics for a while, and he felt that this was the right time to throw his hat in the ring. On his recently launched campaign Facebook page, Russ wrote that he was trying again because he wanted “to give back to the place that raised me.”
Forest Park voters will be able to submit objections to any of those candidates’ nominating petitions between Dec. 20 and Dec. 27 during regular village hall office hours.
Uncontested race in D91
At Forest Park School District 91, four seats are at play. With incumbent Katherine Valleau choosing not to run, the three incumbents and one newcomer will win by default. Incumbents Shannon Wood and Monica Cotton Yancy, and Forest Park Recreation Board member Monica Angelo are running for the three four-year seats. Board member Al-Fuquan Brooks, who was appointed to replace board member L’erin Cross earlier this year, is the only candidate running to serve out the last two years of Cross’ term.
And remember, the county is still processing some school board petitions.
Uncontested race at park district
At the Park District of Forest Park, only the three incumbents filed to run. Commissioners Roy Sansone and Cathleen McDermott are running for six-year terms, while commissioner Tim Gillian, who was appointed on Nov. 18, 2021 to fill the seat vacated by Matt Walsh, is running to serve the remaining two years of Walsh’s term.
