University Park trustee concedes contest for mayor
University Park Village Trustee Theo Brooks has conceded that Mayor Joseph Roudez was reelected to a second term following a recount of votes from the April 4 election, but called for a change in the University Park electoral process.
The recount was held May 10 in the Will County clerk’s office, with Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry, Brooks and Roudez present with their attorneys, Brooks said. During the recount, the focus was on the precincts where Roudez won big and on mail-in ballots, Brooks said. Ultimately, two minor issues were found: the date of a mail-in ballot and a questionable signature, but Brooks said those weren’t enough to change the outcome of the election.
“It was nothing really to throw arms about or raise alarms about,” Brooks said. “I wish him the best of luck.”
Roudez won by 10 votes with 404 votes, followed by Brooks with 394 votes and Trustee Sonia Jenkins-Bell with 334 votes, according to official Will and Cook county vote totals.
Roudez said he was pleased he won the election and the recount. “The numbers never changed. Let’s not look backward, but look forward and work for the people of the University Park and the Southland region,” Roudez said.
Since 2005, three or more candidates ran for mayor and the winner in those elections won by a few votes, Brooks said. In the mayoral race, University Park should have a voting process like
Chicago, Brooks said, where a primary is held and if no one gets 50% or more of the vote then the two candidates with the highest number of votes face a runoff election.
“I think we need to change our voting process in University Park if we want to see change from what we’ve just seen,” Brooks said.
Brooks said he wishes the mayor all the best in his second term. Moving forward, Brooks said he hopes the mayor engages with trustees who don’t share his point of view and “meet in the middle” on issues where there may be disagreement. Roudez will be sworn in tonight during a special meeting held at the University Park Golf Club. Brooks said he received a call from a resident stating she won’t attend the meeting because it will be held at the golf course. The golf course was at the center of allegations that came to a head when CHW Management Group LLC owner Sonia Coffee and former University Park police Chief Deborah Wilson were in an altercation Dec. 16, 2021, that resulted in Coffee being charged with aggravated battery and Wilson’s termination.
A Will County judge found Coffee and golf course employee DeVaughn Mathus, who was also charged with aggravated battery, not guilty April 13.
Brooks said he shared the resident’s concerns, but said he will attend the meeting to show the residents a peaceful start to the mayor’s next term. “I’m not happy with it being at the golf course either. But I’ll go to certify the vote,” Brooks said.