Now that the 2014 mid-year elections are in the rear view mirror, it’s time to set sights on the spring 2015 election when local candidates will be looking to fill seats on school and park and other local boards.
The Skokie School District 68 Board Nominating Committee recently endorsed three incumbents who are seeking re-election next year to four-year terms on the board.
Those candidates, each one having served since 2011 and seeking second terms, include District 68 trustees Katrina Bell-Jordan, Richard Berk and Darius Zakeri. Whether they run unopposed remains to be seen.
A District 68 election where all incumbents run for their open seats on the board has been rare of late. The district has gone through transition in recent years; the last election included all new candidates running for open seats and this year the district has two of three new top administrators including a new superintendent.
A District 68 resident since 2003, Bell-Jordan is a professor and department chair of the Department of Communication, Media, and Theatre at Northeastern University in Chicago. She has a child in seventh grade at Old Orchard Junior High.
A retired physician, Berk has lived in District 68 since 1983. His wife, Ruth Berk, taught at Jane Stenson School for 21 years before retiring in 2007. Berk initially served on the District 68 Board from 1986 to 1993 before a second stint beginning in 2011.
Zakeri, a District 68 resident since 2005, is a regulatory division manager with the Chicago Board Option Exchange. He has a child in sixth grade at Old Orchard Junior High and another in third grade at Highland School.
Candidate petition forms for the April 7 election are available at the Cook County Clerk’s Office, 5600 Old Orchard Road, Skokie or online.
A school board candidate’s petition must be filed in the same office no earlier than 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 15 and no later than 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 22. Candidates’ names will appear on the election ballot in the order in which nominating papers are received.
Skokie School District 68 has had a nominating committee for years, which screens and endorses candidates for the local school board elections.
This year’s committee includes Chair Meghan Espinoza, Frank Alkyer, Pazit Burstin, Karen Koehler-Davis, Edie Hertel, Margo Jacquot, Jason Malina, Lisa Omori, Chris Rivero, Carima Salameh, Kari Susens, Christine Toy and Allison Zidek.
