Panel rules Malare can stay on municipal ballot in O’Fallon election

O’Fallon Ward 3 candidate Vern Malare will remain on the April 4 municipal election ballot after a three-person election committee voted unanimously Friday, Jan. 6, to overrule Alderman Andrea Fohne’s objections to his petition.

Fohne said she contested his candidacy because of errors his paperwork that was filed.

“I had four different objections to Mr. Malare’s papers and petitions,” Fohne said. “Any candidate could have been challenged if a petition would have been filed, including myself, we are all open to that from the moment we filed our paperwork. I simply exercised my right to do so as part of the election process. This, in no way, is personal or malicious.”

Fohne was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Kevin Hagarty, who died on March 30, 2022, and is seeking a four-year term.

“I respect the board’s decision and look forward to the upcoming election,” Fohne said Friday, Jan. 6, after the hearing.

Malare said he was relieved over the decision.

“Now I can sleep easier,” he said.

In O’Fallon, one seat each in six wards and two in Ward 7 will be decided. There are three contested races, in Wards 2, 3 and 4. The other candidates are unopposed.

Both filed prior to the Dec. 19 deadline. A notary public notarized his position, as all candidates are required to do.

Malare ran unsuccessfully in 2017, defeated by Matthew “Gilly” Gilreath, who had been appointed in July 2016, and did not seek re-election in 2021. Gilreath won a race for the O’Fallon Township Clerk that year.

Malare, who describes himself as a “concerned citizen who doesn’t like the way things are going,” said he was served papers Friday, Dec. 30, by a St. Clair County deputy sheriff informing him a hearing regarding his petition would be Jan. 3.

The hearing was before an election committee of Mayor Herb Roach, City Clerk Jerry Mouser and Alderman Jerry Albrecht to decide whether Malare stayed on the ballot. Afterwards, Roach said a decision would be announced at 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6.

Deputy City Clerk Misty McDonald said the city only received one objection — from Fohne for candidate Malare.

“Any registered voter within the voting district has a right to object to a candidate petition,” McDonald said.

The State Board of Elections’ Candidate Guide says this: “A candidate’s nomination papers may be challenged by the filing of an objection. The deadline for filing objections is five business days after the last day of the filing period. Objections to all nominating papers are heard by the proper electoral board as designated in the Election Code and decisions of the electoral board are subject to judicial review. (10 ILCS 5/10-8 through 10-10.1)“

Malare also used his nickname “Vern” — instead of his given name of Vernell — and he said that was mentioned, but Fohne said she did not object to that.

Among her objections, he failed to circle “city” in the space where a potential candidate must select city, village, or unincorporated area.

“There were six of the 11 candidates that circled one or both (‘city’) on their Statement of Candidacy forms, but this isn’t about the other wards or candidates. Mr. Malare also failed to put his name in the body of that particular form,” she said.

“I forgot to print my name there,” he said.

More about objections

Malare argued other candidates did not circle it, either.

“My third and fourth objections pertained to his petitions. He wrote ‘township’ for the political division and not ‘city,’ which is absolutely the wrong government body for this position and election. In my opinion, this is the most problematic and could have caused confusion,” she said.

Another reason was he used “alderman” instead of “alderperson” on the documents. Some others filled out theirs incorrectly regarding the seat they are seeking.

The Illinois State Board of Elections amended alderman to alderperson in September in its “Candidate Guide.”

Fohne said she attended sessions at the Illinois Municipal League in the fall, where they went over election rules and how the state changed “alderman” to “alderperson” last year.

Malare previously ran for alderman in 2017 and was defeated by then-incumbent Matthew “Gilly” Gilreath.

Malare said when he turned in his paperwork back then, he used the word “alderman.” Nor did he circle ‘city,’ “and it was accepted.”

‘That really upsets me’

Candidates who used “alderman” were Dennis Muyleart, Aaron Hudson, and Gilreath.

Mary-Jeanne Hutchinson, Jessica Lotz, Tom Vorce, and Todd Roach used “alderperson.”

Eric Van Hook and Nathan Parchman wrote “Council Member” on their form.

Those who did not circle “City” were: Hutchinson, Hudson, Van Hook and Parchman.

“Nobody else is being challenged who didn’t fill it out right. She pointed me out and wants to take me off the ballot,” Malare said earlier this week. “I say let the public make a decision. That really upsets me.”

Malare also had issue with the timing, as Dec. 30 was before a holiday weekend, so he couldn’t contact an attorney.

“I tried, but no one was around,” he said.

Malare said he attended the hearing by himself and did not have a lawyer present.

Malare said the city’s attorney told him he had “substantially complied” with his paperwork.

Had he been removed, Malare could have filed as a write-in candidate.

Additional information about Malare, Fohne

Malare retired from the National Weather Service in 2010 after working for the government for 21 years. He grew up in O’Fallon and is a volunteer with the O’Fallon Historical Society and the Cemetery Detectives. He frequently attends city council and committee meetings and comments during the meeting agenda where the public is allowed five minutes to speak.

Born and raised in Ward 3, Fohne is a fourth generation O’Fallonite. She has served as an officer in the O’Fallon Historical Society.

Appointed at age 36, she is the youngest person on the council. A 2008 graduate of McKendree University, she earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology with an emphasis on criminal justice and a minor in psychology. Currently, she is employed by Ameren as a legal assistant in the general counsel’s office, ethics and compliance division.

Prior to that, for nearly five years, she worked as a paralegal at SWMW Law in St. Louis. Previously, she worked for the O’Fallon and Shiloh police departments, first starting as a part-time summer job in 2005-2008, then as a part-time dispatcher with O’Fallon 2008-2012 and records clerk in Shiloh 2008-2016.

Additional races

On Dec. 19, City Clerk Jerry Mouser said filing was completed for the municipal election. According to the Illinois State Board of Elections, nominating petitions for the consolidated election are available at the city clerk’s office during normal business hours starting Sept. 20, 2022. Filing took place Dec. 12-19.

Besides Fohne and Malare, the two other races are:

• Incumbent Alderman Lotz, elected in 2019, is being challenged in Ward 2 by Hutchinson, the former parks and recreation director.
• In Ward 4, Alderman Roach, elected in 2019, will face former Ward 3 alderman Gilreath, who did not seek re-election in 2021 and he was elected O’Fallon Township Clerk. Gilreath was appointed to the council in 2016 and won the seat in 2017.
• Ward 5 Aldermen Gwen Randolph is not running for re-election. Randolph, appointed in 2018, made history as the first African American woman to serve on the council. She was re-elected in 2019. Hudson has filed to run for the open seat.

More about election in O’Fallon

One-term incumbents Muyleart of Ward 1, Vorce in Ward 6, and Parchman in Ward 7 will not face opponents, and neither will appointee Van Hook, who filled the late Dan Witt’s seat last summer, and is seeking the two-year term remaining.

Regarding withdrawing candidates, the state document says: “Whenever the name of an independent candidate for an office is withdrawn or an independent candidate’s petition is declared invalid by an electoral board or upon judicial review, no vacancy in nomination for that office shall exist. A vacancy in nomination contemplates a political party organization to fill it, but an independent candidate is not supported by a party structure. Therefore, vacancies for independent candidates cannot be filled. (10 ILCS 5/10-7)”

Write-in candidates can declare their intent by filing a notarized form no later than 61 days prior to the election.

To view all the O’Fallon candidates’ petitions for office, visit the city website and view the PDF files: https://www.ofallon.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif1031/f/pages/petitions_received_-_april_4_2023_consolidated_election_4.pdf.