Election 2023: One Tinley Park sweeps clerk, trustee races
TINLEY PARK, Ill. – The One Tinley Park team coasted to victory in the Village of Tinley Park Board of Trustees and clerk races Tuesday, April 4.
Village Clerk Nancy O’Connor, the incumbent, defeated challenger Ahleah Balawender 4,306 to 1,812, according to unofficial results from the Cook and Will county clerks’ offices.
Trustees William Brennan (4,498) and Michael Mueller (4,283) were re-elected to the board, and One Tinley Park running mate Ken Shaw (4,105) also was elected to the board.
“We are just so grateful to the voters of Tinley Park that they have given us more time to keep moving forward with what we are doing,” O’Connor told Richard Free Press on behalf of the entire One Tinley Park Team. “We appreciate them and their confidence in us.”
O’Connor, who was appointed to the clerk position by Mayor Michael Glotz after former Clerk Kristin Thirion resigned in January 2022, will serve the final two years of the unexpired term.
“It truly is humbling,” O’Connor said of the support she received from the community. “My whole goal always has been to represent all of the residents and do the best I can to represent them – and to keep it as smooth a process as possible for the clerk’s office.
“I’m thrilled that I get to continue to serve. I just want to try to help make our little corner of the world a better place.”
Looking ahead, O’Connor said she hopes the Village will soon see progress made toward cleaning up the former site of the Tinley Park Mental Health Center. She also said she believes the strong turnout for the One Tinley Park team “reaffirms that we are on the right path.”
“This is all about what is best for Tinley Park, and I think we’ve proven that that is what we want and that is where we are moving,” she said.
Meanwhile, Trustee Diane Galante lost her re-election bid by finishing fourth *in the trustees race with 2,427 votes. Galante – who was elected to the Village Board in 2019 as part of the One Tinley Park team before running as an independent this election cycle – wished the new board luck.
“The people of Tinley have spoken,” Galante said. “I wish the new board great success.”