Park Forest mayoral candidate makes case as incumbent misses first forum
Q: What do you do when candidates for political office do not show up for discussions with the voters?
A: You keep on going. What was originally billed Sunday as the first set-to between Park Forest Mayor Jon Vanderbilt and challenger Joe Woods turned out to be a love feast between Woods and the more than 30 attendees in Village Hall.
Earlier in the week, Vanderbilt, a journeyman carpenter, told officials of the Park Forest Non-Partisan Committee that he would be out of town and on Saturday he displayed photos on social media of a job he apparently worked on in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
That left Woods, a village trustee, answering questions presented by forum moderator, retired Cook County Judge Ray Funderburk. His first of seven questions, “why are you the best candidate for mayor?” set the tone for some 40 minutes of banter as Woods showcased himself to the audience, which at times applauded his answers on subjects on crime, plans for seniors and the need for more business, and at other times laughed after some of his lighthearted responses.
At the end, when asked for a closing statement, Woods, first elected to office four years ago, joked he “used up all my closing statements” in previous answers, and his jovial response was again met with hand claps and laughs.
The Non-Partisan Committee has sponsored these forums since 1955, allowing all candidates for village office a chance to take their case before the public without any expense. To be included in these forums, each candidate must sign a pledge to run an independent campaign, one that does not include endorsements from other candidates or a political organization.
It was once a visionary commitment to ethical local elections, but in recent years it was disregarded by some office seekers.
Vanderbilt was not the only person to miss the first of three debates. Joshua Travis, who is seeking a seat on the Village Board, was also a no-show, thus allowing Trustee Tiffani Graham and former Trustee Andrew Gladstone, and candidates John Moore and Randall White, to make their case to the public.
When reached at his home in Park Forest after the forum, Travis acknowledged his absence but promised he would attend the next forum three weeks from Sunday.
In more than two hours of questions and answers, Graham and trustee candidates answered questions concerning crime, high taxes, vacant houses in the village, infrastructure, the lack of new business, the village staff and the downtown area. Seldom did the candidates differ in their responses and in each closing statement the four expounded on their love of and commitment to the village.
With Woods running for mayor, and Trustee Candyce Herron bowing out, three board seats (including Graham’s) are up for election.
It is to be noted that White, who is the new pastor at the First Baptist Church in Park Forest, left his seat on the often-argumentative Park Forest Elementary District 163 Board to run for village office. At first, that left seven contenders going for three seats, including those of current board members Christina Dupee and Judy Hawthorne.
One of the candidates, Kim-Elmore Perkins, filed objections to three contenders including Hawthorne. Last week, a Cook County electoral board, citing numerous violations on their petitions, kicked Park Forest District 163 candidates Herbert Ferguson and Tiara Smith-Bobo o ff the April ballot.
That left four candidates — Dupee, Hawthorne, Elmore-Perkins and Margaret McDannel, who spent more than one-quarter of a century on the board before being defeated in the last election — running for three seats.
Which leaves us with one more Q&A.
Q: What do you do when there are too many candidates running for the same seat?
A: Check those petitions.