Evergreen Park Voters To Choose Mayor, Trustees

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — Evergreen Park’s normally uneventful mayoral elections suddenly got more interesting after Mayor James Sexton announced his retirement in December after 20 years. Sexton’s Good Government/United Homeowners slate continues with three trustee seats up for renewal in a contested race between five candidates, although one challenger appears to have ghosted the campaign trail.

The village is poised to elect its first female mayor, with State Rep./Village Trustee Kelly Burke and resident Shawn Good running to fill the departing mayor’s seat. Burke has represented the the 36th District in the Illinois House since 2010. She successfully ran for Evergreen Park village trustee in 2019. If elected mayor, she plans to hold dual offices, which is allowed under the Illinois Constitution. Burke says she will give up her private law practice.

Burke is a 28-year resident of Evergreen Park. She is an attorney has served as an elected trustee on the Evergreen Park library board.

Burke said she will not draw her mayoral compensation on days when the Illinois House is in session, or when she’s performing other duties as a state legislator, such as attending public hearings and committee meetings. Burke also does not plan to participate in village’s pension program for elected officials, nor does she participate in the Illinois General Assembly’s pension program.

Sexton has endorsed Burke, calling her an “incredibly talented lady” who has “been around the block.”

Despite social media accusations of Burke being bound at the hip to former embattled Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, Burke had not yet taken the oath of officer when the state legislature passed Madigan’s controversial “temporary” tax hike in 2011 that raised Illinoisans’ personal income tax and corporate income tax rate by 67 percent and the corporate income tax rate by 46 percent. However, Burke did join state house democrats in making the “temporary” income tax hike permanent in 2017, when the $32 billion in added tax revenue failed to close the state’s budget hole, including its pension liabilities.

Burke was one of a handful of Democrats to vote no on both of the Commonwealth Edison bills that have been at the center of a corruption probe and forced Madigan to resign his post as a state representative and as house speaker. She also led a group of female legislators who pushed for Madigan to appoint an independent investigator to review and reports on sexual harassment claims by staff members of the General Assembly.

Resident Shawn Good. 52, has cast her opponent as a slick Springfield politician. She describes herself as a “concerned citizen” who is really popular in the community, and has no connection to the Vacco-Sexton regime. She tried running for mayor against Sexton in 2013, but was tossed off the ballot because her nominating petitions were not securely bound.

A 13-year veteran of the Air Force Illinois Air National Guard, Good is a paralegal for a government agency. Her family moved to Evergreen Park in 1972, and she’s a 1986 graduate of Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School. She holds a master's degree in political science and criminal justice from Governor's State University.

Her priorities include shutting down the red light camera at 87th Street and Kedzie Avenue, signing off on more gaming licenses for qualified businesses, and bringing in an expert to mitigate sound and vibration problems from CSX trains. She also supports advanced training in community relations for the Evergreen Park Police Department. If elected mayor, Good says she plans to introduce term limits for the mayor, clerk and trustee offices.

Good also told Beverly Review and EP Podcast about changing the village’s current recreation department to a park district. The benefit of such a plan would be having an elected board as opposed to “one director being in charge for 40 years.” Bringing in corporate sponsors would also offset residents’property tax bill.

Popular incumbent Village Clerk Cathy Aparo is running unopposed on the Evergreen Park Good Government Party slate. There are five candidates running for three seats on the Evergreen Park village board, including incumbent Good Government Party candidates Norm Anderson, Carol Kyle and Mark Phelan.

The independent trustee candidates are Cesar Salazar and Darryl D. Smith, although not much has been heard from the latter.

Other races, including Dist. 124, Dist. 231 and the Evergreen Park Library boards are uncontested.