Incumbent, 2 newcomers elected to Frankfort Village Board
By Erin Threlkeld, Freelance Reporter
FRANKFORT, Ill. – In what turned out to be a three-person race for three open seats on the Village of Frankfort Board of Trustees, one incumbent and two newcomers were elected to trustee positions Tuesday, April 6.
Daniel Rossi received the most votes, getting 3,056 tallies. Trustee Eugene Savaria, the only incumbent on the ballot, received the second-most votes with 2,832 ballots cast in his favor. Michael Leddin, a write-in candidate, finished fourth in vote total with 996 votes. But because another candidate on the ballot dropped out prior to Election Day, he placed third.
Due to COVID-19, Rossi spent Election Night differently than previous years when he ran as a trustee for the Frankfort Fire Protection District.
“Unfortunately, it was more subdued and quiet,” Rossi said. “I stopped at one place for a little while, [and] then I spent the evening home with my family. We watched the results together.”
Rossi said one of his first orders of business will be to usher the community past any political division from the race for trustee and to unify Frankfort.
“The town was kind of split up by the mayoral election,” he said. “I think our first goal as a board is [to] try to bring everything back together, settle things down and get back to work.”
Rossi also said he plans to meet with liaisons after being sworn in on May 3, identifying communication as a crucial first step toward helping Frankfort. He also identified rejuvenating local businesses and fixing aging infrastructure as two pressing concerns.
“We have to get some of the storefronts full,” Rossi said. “By having businesses in the stores, that takes the burdens off taxpayers. Plus, we have a town where the infrastructure needs more work.”
Meanwhile, Savaria reflected on his campaign as a pleasant experience that allowed him to explore Frankfort.
“Overall, it was a very positive campaign,” he said. “I walked and participated in meet and greets with a mayoral candidate.”
Savaria also addressed the Village’s plan to pursue economic development and repair by renovating vacant property.
“We just hired a new economic development director, and we’re looking to bring in another member we interviewed,” Savaria said. “We’ve got a lot of vacant property that we would like to see developed, and we have vacant storefronts that we would like to get new businesses into.”
Leddin, who withdrew his name from the ballot and ran as a write-in after a challenge was filed during the early stages of the trustee campaign, also spent Election Night with his family.
Looking ahead, he said one of the first steps he will take as a trustee is to apply skills learned from his prior position as a manager of a law firm to the needs of Frankfort.
“My professional background is administration for a law firm,” he said. “I’m hoping that with my experience in managing, there will be a lot of parallels to what is involved in being trustee.”
He also identified the financial state of the Village as a major issue on his agenda.
“The biggest hurdle is assisting local businesses with getting back on track as we continue to reopen,” he said. “Also, helping them to identify what other resources may be available to them.”