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New political parties vie for Niles leadership
Andrew Przybylo announces his candidacy for Niles mayor during a Dec. 3 press conference. | Brian O'Mahoney~for Sun-Times Media
Updated: February 4, 2013 1:16AM
NILES — Two slates of candidates have announced plans to run in what will be a highly-contested election for Niles mayor and trustees next April.
The Responsible Leadership for Niles Party announced its slate of candidates in a press release issued Nov. 26, while the New Niles Party 2013 held a press conference Dec. 3 to present its slate.
The Responsible Leadership for Niles Party is led by Trustee Chris Hanusiak who is throwing his hat into the ring for mayor. The slate also consists of trustee candidates Louella Preston and Jim Hynes, both incumbents on the Village Board, and candidate Mary Marusek, a former Niles Park Board member who ran unsuccessfully for trustee in 2011.
“There are no hidden agendas, only a desire to increase the participation of Niles residents in the governance of their community,” the party announced.
Hanusiak, who also ran for mayor in 2009, will face off against long-time Niles Trustee Andrew Przybylo who is heading up the New Niles Party in a bid for mayor. Trustee candidates on the slate include George Alpogianis, owner of Kappy’s Restaurant in Morton Grove; Danette O’Donovan Matyas, a two-year member of the Niles Library Board; and John Jekot, vice president of the East Maine School District 63 Board of Education on which he has served since 1999.
The New Niles Party’s announcement took place at the White Eagle Banquet Hall which Przybylo owns.
“We will get elected,” Przybylo said. “We’re going to run hard, we’re going to run fast.”
The Niles municipal election will take place April 9. Mayor Robert Callero, appointed to the position in 2008 following the resignation of Nicholas Blase and elected mayor the following year, has not announced whether he will run to retain his seat.
