DuPage County Auditor Election Audit
Sixteen months after election day in November of 2020, Bill White was declared the winner on Monday of the DuPage County Auditor’s race by Circuit Court Judge Craig Belford. Following multiple recounts, White’s margin of victory was 66 votes. Incumbent Bob Grogan’s request that 40 disputed ballots be removed was dismissed for not demonstrating “clear and convincing” evidence. Grogan, who served as auditor from 2008 to 2020, told the Chicago Tribune it was “highly likely” he would run again in the next election.
New District 203 CBA
Last night, the Naperville School District 203 Board of Education approved a new collective bargaining agreement with the Naperville Transportation Association (NTA). The new five-year contract increases salaries for bus drivers and mechanics by between $1.50 to $3.00 per hour in the first year ,and boosts the starting hourly wage from $17.41 to $20.67. It also provides a one-time payment of $1,000. At the meeting, board president Kristin Fitzgerald said the district hopes the increase in salary will help address the current bus driver shortage. The agreement runs through 2026.
D203 Levy Abated
Also last night, the board voted to fully abate the 2021 debt service tax levy. While the school district portion of most home tax bills will increase by around 1.4%, an average homeowner with an assessed value of $410,000 will see an increase of about $25 if their home did not change in assessed value. If the levy wasn’t abated, an average homeowner would have experienced a 2.5% increase.
Local Teen Climbing to Raise Water Crisis Awareness
Today is World Water Day, and a local teenager is going above and beyond (literally) to raise awareness of the world’s water crisis. Naperville native Lucy Westlake has spent time in recent years living in rural villages in Kenya and Uganda helping to improve those communities’ access to clean water. She is also the youngest woman to summit the highest point in every US state, and will next month depart for Mount Everest. Westlake, 18, would be the youngest American woman to climb the world’s tallest mountain and hopes such an accomplishment can help her bring greater attention to a cause she cares so deeply about. In the meantime, she has released at special World Water Day sweatshirt on her Etsy shop. 100% of the profits will go towards her water project efforts in Uganda.
