DGreport.com

The process for filling the vacant D99 board seat is well underway, with a deadline of 4:30 p.m., Thursday, May 13 for applications.

On Monday, May 17, the board will meet in closed session to winnow the field to three candidates.  It remains to be seen whether the names of the three finalists or the entire field of applicants will be revealed by the board.

Keeping that information confidential would be a departure from the practice of other local boards which have appointed new members to vacancies in recent years.

Within the past five years, the village council, the D58 school board and the park board all have had vacancies:

• The 2003 resignation of park board member Susan Dunlap in September 2003; Bob Gelwicks was appointed to the seat the following March.

• The 2005 resignation of  Sue McConnell from the village council; Sean Durkin was appointed to the seat.

• The 2005 resignation of Penny Greenwood from the D58 board; Rich Samonte was appointed to the seat.

• The 2009 resignation of Tom Cunningham from the D58 board; John Miller was appointed to the seat.

• The 2009 resignations of  Park Board commissioners Kathryn Engel-Accetura and Ron Smith; Fred Gusel and Matthew Cushing were appointed to the seats.

Each body has handled the process slightly differently. The village council devised a questionnaire for applicants which can be read by clicking on the photo at right. Seventeen residents completed applications and eight were interviewed by the council. The names of the eight finalists were included in notices for the executive session meetings at which the interviews were conducted.

D58 provided the DGreport with a copy of the application completed by applicants for the seat vacated by Cunningham last September. The board interviewed all nine applicants for the seat in closed sessions over two evenings and called back two for a second interview before making the appointment in open session. The names of the applicants were released by the district.

The park board eschewed a formal application when filling its two open seats. It appointed Fred Gusel, the third-place finisher in the 2009 park board election to Engel-Accetura’s seat and invited resumes and cover letters from applicants for the seat vacated by Smith in December.

The park board received nine applications for the seat and chose to interview four candidates after receiving their materials.  All interviews were conducted in executive session the same evening, with the decision made the same night. The names of these applicants were also released to the public.

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