McHenry County’s most populous township also is the one with the largest number of candidates running in Tuesday’s primary election.
Algonquin Township’s Republican voters will decide contested races for township supervisor and clerk, and will choose four trustee candidates from a field of seven.
Incumbent Supervisor Dianne Klemm faces a challenge from Clerk Marc Munaretto. Newcomer Charles Lutzow and township Trustee Linda Lance are running for the soon-to-be-vacant clerk seat.
Klemm and Munaretto both have roots in the McHenry County Board. Klemm served six years as board chairwoman, and Munaretto spent 14 years as a board member, 10 of them in charge of the Finance and Audit Committee.
“I am a good caretaker of the office and treat the office as if it is ‘on loan’ and not my private domain. I never forget who I am there representing,” said Klemm, who has been supervisor since October 2000.
Both Klemm and Munaretto said they would support freezing the township property-tax levy. Munaretto, who promises a top-to-bottom review of township programs, said he will end the practice of automatically increasing the levy to the maximum each year.
“Township residents are still experiencing hardships associated with the Great Recession, and they deserve relief,” Munaretto said.
Lutzow, a small-business owner, said his three priorities if elected clerk will be encouraging voter awareness and access, government transparency and the prudent spending of tax dollars. Lance did not respond to the Northwest Herald election questionnaire.
Trustee candidates are Dan Shea, Lowell Cutsforth, Russell Cardelli, Neils Kruse, Larry Emery, Melissa Sanchez and William Bligh. Shea and Cutsforth are incumbents, and Cardelli, who was appointed last year to fill a vacancy, is seeking a full four-year term.
When asked about the decision they disagreed with the most, Emery and Cardelli cited a September vote to authorize 2 percent salary increases for two years after a two-year freeze. Cardelli cast the sole opposing vote, arguing that the freeze should last all four years.
Six of the trustees told the Northwest Herald they support keeping the township levy frozen until housing prices rebound. Sanchez did not respond to the Northwest Herald’s election questionnaire.
Highway Commissioner Robert Miller and Assessor Robert Kunz are unopposed in the primary.
The township is one of four with contested Republican primaries. Tuesday’s winners will run in the April 9 consolidated election.
