Current Village Trustee Janine Witko is set to take the reins as mayor of Morton Grove, running unopposed in the April 1 election to replace Dan DiMaria whose public service spans at least a decade.
“It’s been an honor and a blessing and I hope the residents think I left the town a little better than I found it,” DiMaria told Pioneer Press following the election.
He decided not to seek another term in this year’s Consolidated Election after feeling a tug in his private life.
“I’m not retiring from my full-time job and that’ll keep me busy. And, grandpa duty is calling now, so that changes things a little bit,” DiMaria said of his decision to step down.
DiMaria started out on the Appearance Commission and then won election as village clerk. He successfully ran for a village trustee seat before making a winning bid for mayor in 2013.
He said he’s done pretty much everything he set out to do for the village.
“You know, I went in on goals I wanted to get done … and I met those goals,” he said.
Those goals included developing Sawmill Station Apartments, establishing a new water supply partnership and building a new commuter train station. The Morton Grove station on Metra’s Milwaukee District North line is expected to be completed this summer.
“There will always be something else, but I felt it was time,” DiMaria said about leaving office. “I’ve been blessed to be mayor and I wanted to go out leaving the town a little better than I found it.”
His words of advice for Witko? Listen to the residents.
“Know what your residents want, and you do that by listening to your residents,” he said.
Witko was first appointed village trustee in 2013 by DiMaria to fill a Village Board vacancy created after another trustee left the area.
Witko, as well as the village clerk and other incumbent trustees — are all members of the local Action Party. They all ran unopposed for reelection.
Eileen Scanlon Harford will continue as village clerk. Saba Khan, Ashur Shiba and Constance “Connie” Travis were each reelected to at-large positions on the Village Board, according to unofficial April 1 vote totals from the Cook County clerk’s office.
The election results are unofficial until the clerk certifies them – usually within weeks of the election.
The Consolidated Election also had library board candidates on the ballot. In Morton Grove, there were four candidates who ran for two available seats on the library board. Kimberly “Kim” Moldosfky got 39% of the vote and Mohammed Azam Hussain picked up 32%, emerging as the top two vote-getters, according to the unofficial results.
Jay M. Cook and Samuel Broderick McCampbell also ran for library board trustee.
Jesse Wright is a freelancer.