Independents win 3 seats on village board
By Bob Bong and Carol McGowan
There will be a big change on the next Summit Village Board when three independent candidates take office in May.
According to complete but unofficial results, Sonia Ponce, Aurora Rodriguez, and Lorena Manriquez easily beat the Village Party slate of Aleco Julius, Art Sullivan and the late Karen Wasko.
Ponce led the challengers with 519 votes, Rodriguez had 429 votes and Manriquez tallied 406. Julius polled 354 votes, Sullivan garnered 351 votes, and Wasko, who died in a car crash on St. Patrick’s Day, received 282 votes. Turnout was 17.4 percent.
The challengers had been endorsed by incumbent Trustee Mayra “Camacho” Ortiz, who broke with the Village Party ahead of this election.
“This was a big success, not for us personally, but the Village of Summit,” said Ponce. “We were able to engage a lot of new voters, and remind them of the power of their votes. I’m also very blessed to have worked with two very strong women with the same determination and goal as mine, and who made the journey a lot easier for me. We did this all with the support of our husbands, family, and the entire community. We are ready for the next step.”
“I’m excited to represent our community and re-engage our residents for a positive experience and trust,” Manriquez said. “I’m honored and privileged to have received so much support from our community, and I’m ready to go to work.”
“I’m very humbled that the people of summit came out and supported us,” said Rodriguez. “I thank everybody that was behind us. It’s a great feeling for a lot of work that was put in and people responded very well to us. We are grateful for this victory.”
Mayor Sergio Rodriguez, the leader of the Village Party, said, “I want to thank everyone for all of their hard work. Aleco, Karen (Wasko) and I started together eight years ago. We wouldn’t have seen the progress we have without them. I will continue to do the work I have done, and I will always be for Summit. I will continue to move the village forward, and always be grateful for the work our now angel Trustee Karen (Wasko) has done for us, along with Trustee Julius and Trustee Sullivan. We may have lost now, but we will come back stronger.”
“We will see how things work out with the new trustees coming in and what they can contribute,” said Sullivan.
Julius declined to comment.
in other races in the village:
Dallis Anderson Jr. and Rodolfo Santoyo ran unopposed for two six-year terms on the Summit Park District board.
Mirian Cruz, Erica Munoz and Avzi Dardovski were unopposed for three four-year terms on the Summit Public Library District board.
This was many months of personal door knocking, meet and greets, phone banking and fundraising, all to give the community a chance to hear our hopes and dreams for Summit. With the best intentions we fought our way and earned every single vote we received. It was a long and hard journey but like they say, everything worthwhile in life is never easy. We will work hard to serve the community, Summit we heard you and your concerns and are now ready to work. Thank you for giving us a chance. Gracias Summit por esta oportunidad!
Congratulations on your new life in the village of Summit trustee’s. I hope you do a wonderful job and in the future of the world.