Alexander-Basta Keeps Seat As Bolingbrook Mayor

Bolingbrook, IL — Acting Mayor Mary Alexander-Basta is projected to win over opponents Sheldon Watts and Jackie Traynere in the race to be Bolingbrook's next mayor.

While Alexander-Basta is poised to win, the results still need to be certified before Bolingbrook will officially have its first new mayor in more than three decades. She leads both challengers by more than 1,000 votes.

Alexander-Basta's fellow First Party candidates also seemed set to sweep races for the village clerk's office and three open trustee seats.

Here are the latest vote totals:

• Jacqueline "Jackie" Traynere (Bolingbrook United): 3,494 votes
• Mary S. Alexander-Basta (First Party For Bolingbrook): 4,558 votes
• Sheldon L. Watts (Bolingbrook Independent Voices): 2,565 votes
• Write-in: 14 votes

About the candidates

The race for Bolingbrook mayor kicked off July 31, when longtime Mayor Roger Claar announced his retirement after being in the job for more than 33 years. Claar was a polarizing figure who had faced his share of controversy over the years, but also drew a lot of praise from residents for his accomplishments.

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The Bolingbrook Village Board appointed Mary Alexander-Basta as the village's acting mayor. Alexander-Basta, who is part of Claar's First Party For Bolingbrook, now faces Jackie Traynere and Sheldon Watts in the April 6 election.

After being sworn in last July, Alexander-Basta asked Claar and his wife Pat to join her at the lectern as she read a letter expressing gratitude for his years of dedicated work in the Bolingbrook community. Alexander-Basta said she had big shoes to fill in the position.

"You have served a lifetime," Alexander-Basta said to Claar. "You had a vision of growth and development, and you did what was needed to grow this village into what we now call home."

According to the Village of Bolingbrook website last summer, Alexander-Basta was elected village trustee in 2019 and served on both the Public Safety and Public Services Committees. She is an event design and coordination consultant with 20-plus years experience doing major corporate event planning and hotel/club management at locations such as the Palmer House Hilton, Four Seasons and Chicago Yacht Club.

Alexander-Basta studied mass communications at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, and has served the community as the chair of the Bolingbrook Plan Commission, the president of the PTA, a board member of a local youth soccer league and the founding vice president of Bolingbrook STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Association for youth.

In February, Shaw Media reported that Alexander-Basta was endorsed by Bolingbrook Fire Fighters Association Local 3005 after previously being endorsed by the Painters District Council #14.

Basta said she moved to Bolingbrook with her husband in 2003 and was attracted to its diversity.

"We fell in love with it and decided to make it our home and raise our family," she said.

Traynere lost to Claar by just 103 votes in a heated 2017 mayoral election that included accusations of deception, negative campaigning and connections to President Donald Trump.

Traynere announced July 4 that she would be running for mayor in 2021 and would end Claar's "yoke of oppression." Though Claar was retiring, Traynere said she was not sure if he would stay away from politics.

"He reported over $40,000 in political contributions to his Bolingbrook Political Action Committee through those with contracts with the village," Traynere said. "Claar will in fact continue to hold the purse strings for any First Party candidate in 2021."

Traynere said Claar's retirement would not "take away the community debt, highest in the county for a community of our size."

"For all the residents that appreciated his service I hope they also understand the cost. I have looked in the corners and under the rug he has not kept a clean house," Traynere said. "Too many insider deals to mention."

In a YouTube video this past January, Traynere said it was time for Bolingbrook to "Dump the Trash Tax" imposed by Claar and supported by both Alexander-Basta and Watts.

In February, Shaw Media reported that U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Naperville) had announced her endorsement for Traynere, who is part of the Bolingbrook United (BBU) party.

According to Democracy for America.com, Traynere is a lifelong resident of Bolingbrook who has dedicated herself to keeping her community a great place to live and raise a family.

Watts was elected to a four-year term as a village trustee in 2019 after being appointed to fill a vacancy on the Village Board in 2017. In a 2017 candidacy questionnaire, he listed his job as a global telecom industry professional and leader with nearly two decades of experience.

Earlier in his political life, Watts was appointed as the commissioner of the Bolingbrook Zoning Board of Appeals and was a DuPage Township trustee from 2012 to 2016.

Watts, according to his 2017 candidate profile, has a Bachelor’s Degree and MBA from Roosevelt University. He also was a Ph.D. candidate in organizational leadership at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

When Watts announced his candidacy for mayor in a YouTube video last November, he said the village had "stellar amenities" like housing, retail shopping options, great schools and beautiful parks, but that it was time for the village to become more "people focused."

"Now it’s time to focus more on enhancing the lives of our residents," Watts said in the video.

Watts, who is part of the Bolingbrook Independent Voices (BIV) party said he would be pro-business, work to reduce residents’ water rates and support job-training programs.

Additionally, Anne Canion-Hammond filed a declaration as a write-in candidate. Canion-Hammond's Twitter profile states: "BA Psychology, MS Human Svcs. Admin. Seeking Law Degree. Married 46 years. Mother of 4. Seeking position of Mayor of Bolingbrook in April."

By Dan Shalin/Patch Staff