First Party Candidates Sweeps Bolingbrook Races

BOLINGBROOK, IL — Incumbent Martha "Marti" M. Barton is the projected winner in the race for Bolingbrook village clerk by nearly 800 votes, while fellow First Party For Bolingbrook candiates Michael Lawler, Troy Doris and Maria Zarate are poised to sweep all three open trustee seats.

Acting Mayor Mary Alexander-Basta, another First Party nominee, looked set to take the mayor's office, succeeding longtime Mayor Roger Claar, who announced his retirement after being in the job for more than 33 years.

The First Party celebrated its projected victory Tuesday night.

Here are the vote totals with all precincts reporting Tuesday night:

Trustees:

• Jose Quintero (Bolingbrook United): 3,332 votes
• Melisa Quinones (Bolingbrook United): 3,322 votes
• Rondel Parker (Bolingbrook United): 3,220 votes
• *Michael T. Lawler (First Party For Bolingbrook): 4,587 votes
• Troy J. Doris (First Party For Bolingbrook): 4,394 votes
• *Maria A. Zarate (First Party For Bolingbrook): 4,131 votes
• Inez A. Flores (Bolingbrook Independent Voices): 2,021 votes
• Patti M. Chow (Bolingbrook Independent Voices): 2,200 votes
• Meraj Alam (Bolingbrook Independent Voices): 1,860 votes

Village clerk:

• Elnalyn "El" Costa (Bolingbrook United): 3,733 votes
• *Martha "Marti" M. Barton (First Party For Bolingbrook): 4,516 votes
• Faith M. Kinsman-Jones (Bolingbrook Independent Voices): 2,204 votes

About the candidates

Nine candidates vied for three open spots on the Bolingbrook Village Board of Trustees, and three people sought the open village clerk spot.

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Trustees are elected to four-year staggered terms. Two incumbents are up for re-election, while the nine candidates each belong to one of three slates: Bolingbrook United, First Party for Bolingbrook and Bolingbrook Independent Voices.

Jose Quintero (Bolingbrook United)

Quintero is the vice president of operations and business development at Windson Hospitality Group. He is an active member of St. Dominic in Bolingbrook and a member of the Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce.

As a village trustee, Quintero said he would focus on fixing the garbage tax, bring an open-minded mentality to attracting good paying jobs and demand much needed transparency and accountability in village operations. Quintero said he planned to use his business experience to bring a strong sense of fiscal responsibility, a holistic approach to problem-solving and a forward-thinking mentality that ensures long-term outlook is preserved and never sacrificed for short-term political gains.

Quintero and his wife Paola have two teenage sons. Quintero emigrated to the U.S. from Mexico when he was five years old and studied political science at College of DuPage and hospitality at Florida Atlantic.

Melisa Quinones (Bolingbrook United)

Quinones practices law at Giamanco Law Partners in Bolingbrook, specializing in family law, labor and employment. She moved to Bolingbrook from her native Puerto Rico in 2017 after Hurricane Maria devastated the island.

A certified mediator and a Guardian ad Litem (GAL), Quinones is a member of the Board of Directors of Crime Stoppers in Bolingbrook and a volunteer attorney for Prairie Legal Services, who serve self-represented litigants who cannot afford an attorney. She serves on the Judicial Evaluation Committee of the Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois and is a member of the Will County Bar Association and the Guardian ad Litem Committee.

Quinones and husband Juan Rodriguez have two sons, ages 13 and 11, she is fully bilingual (Spanish and English) and is licensed to practice law in Puerto Rico, Illinois and in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Rondel Parker (Bolingbrook United)

Parker said he has devoted his life to public service in both professional and volunteer projects. Fiscally conservative, Parker said he is running for trustee in order to make Bolingbrook a more prosperous place to live, and he recently (March 2019) discovered the power of living a debt-free life. Parker makes clear that he is not interested in partisan disputes or backroom deals.

A graduate of Illinois State, Parker has five children, three of whom are members of the United States Air Force. Parker is a member of the Bolingbrook Fun Run Club.

Michael T. Lawler (First Party for Bolingbrook)

An incumbent on the Village Board and the current Deputy Mayor, Lawler has worked for Hyatt Hotels, where he managed annual budgets over $100 million, and later for an international IT services company. Lawler said this experience has helped him understand the complexity of municipal government and the funding intricacies to deliver effective services.

Since being appointed to the Village Board in 1995, Lawler has worked on various committees, including: Land Use, Public Safety, Public Works and Finance, he served as both a member and chairman of the latter two. He also has served as the Deputy Mayor.

Among the local organizations Lawler has been involved with, are: youth sports, scouting, the Jaycees, Lions Club, Knights of Columbus, Bolingbrook Plan Commission and the St. Dominic Parish. He is the founding member and current president of the Valley View Educational Enrichment Foundation.

Lawler studied communications at American University in Washington D.C. and has five children.

Troy J. Doris (First Party for Bolingbrook)

A 2007, Bolingbrook High School grad, Doris was a track and field star and went on to compete at the University of Iowa. Later, he represented Guyana, his family's native country, at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, finishing seventh in the triple jump. He is currently in training for the 2020 Summer Olympics, which will be held in the summer of 2021 in Tokyo.

Doris has served as a personal trainer, is an active member of the Team Ignite nonprofit in Elmhurst and is a volunteer coach at Proviso West High School.

Doris completed the Career Leadership Academy program while in college, which was focused on leadership, interpersonal skills and team building. After college, he received an invitation to live and train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. He moved back to Bolingbrook in 2015.

Maria A. Zarate (First Party for Bolingbrook)

An incumbent in the race, Zarate is entering her eighth year on the Village Board. Zarate said the relationship between the mayor, board and co-administrators always is a "work in progress," but she supports the respectful process which ensures everyone is working together for the good of Bolingbrook residents.

Zarate is a former Chief of Staff to Illinois State Rep. Cynthia Soto, and she managed two Chicago district offices providing constituent services like children and family services, community outreach, healthcare, wellness, housing assistance and senior citizen inquiries.

A resident of Bolingbrook since 1993, Zarate has been involved with the H2O organization, which services high risk youth. She also serves as an advocate for the Latino community in Bolingbrook, and said it’s important that Latino residents feel embraced within the village, while also contributing to the community through their rich culture, work ethic and family values.

Inez A. Flores (Bolingbrook Independent Voices)

Flores spent 12 years as a teacher for bilingual and general education students in the Valley View School District. She also has been heavily involved in community organizations, currently serving as the vice president for the Immigrant Community of the Midwest in Action (CIMA) organization, which is a nonprofit specializing in providing resources

Flores serves as a plan commissioner for the Village of Bolingbrook, formally advising the legislative body about jurisdictional zoning decisions. She also is an active volunteer for the Catechism Program at St. Dominic’s.

A graduate of Ashford University with a Bachelor's degree in Organizational Management, Flores also has Transitional Bilingual Certification. Flores has three children, all of whom attended Valley View schools.

Patti M. Chow (Bolingbrook Independent Voices)

Chow, the assistant principal at B.J. Ward Elementary School, said she is committed to making Bolingbrook the best place to live and raise a family by ensuring equitable decision-making and by honoring and celebrating the village’s diversity.

A former English as a second language (ESL) teacher, Chow came to the Valley View School District in 2005, where she served as a district coordinator and reading specialist before taking her current position. She is also an instructor in the graduate program in the College of Education at Dominican University.

Within the community, Chow has taught religious education classes at St. Francis Assisi Parish, been a Girl Scout leader and Marching Raider parent volunteer.

Chow has a bachelor's degree in elementary education from University of Illinois and a master’s in reading. She has three children, two in college and one in high school.

Meraj Alam (Bolingbrook Independent Voices)

Alam is a business owner of Light Up Photo Booth and Web Point 360 and also involved in Point of Solutions Training/Staffing Organization.

Alam said he looked forward to continuing to grow and nurture a community of all backgrounds, faiths and practices to ensure Bolingbrook is the No. 1 city in Illinois to which families want to move. He also wants to make the village attractive to small businesses and conducive to establishing start-ups from the ground up. Additionally, Alam said he strives to be known as a "voice of the voiceless," and make sure that concerns brought to his attention are being addressed.

Alam’s community experience includes being on the Board of Directors at the nonprofit Chi-Care, which organizes food drives for those in need. He also has served as a security/community volunteer for Masjid Al-Islam/Jummah. Alam is a member of the Board of Directors for the Illinois Muslim Chamber of Commerce and is the director of technology for the Professional Wedding Alliance.

A 2008 graduate of North Central College, Alam previously worked as a business analyst and QA manager for Shifty7 Digital.

Village clerk

After the retirement of longtime village clerk Carol Penning in December, Martha "Marti" M. Barton was appointed to serve out her term.

Barton, who is with the First Party for Bolingbrook, faced off against Elnalyn "El" Costa of Bolingbrook United and Faith M. Kinsman-Jones of Bolingbrook Independent Voices.

By Dan Shalin/Patch Staff