A passionate crowd of supporters gathered at Lynwood Bowling Center Tuesday night to rally behind Lynwood Village President Jada Curry, facing a challenge in the Democratic primary.
Wearing shirts emblazoned with her slate’s campaign slogan, #LynwoodStrong, they gathered to show their support for the incumbent, who was leading with 358 votes an hour after polls closed, according to unofficial results from the Cook County clerk’s office.
As Curry made her entrance around 8 p.m. to announce her victory, supporters erupted in cheers of ‘Four more years!’ while clapping.
“It’s been a challenging journey, but we’re here,” Curry said. “I am extremely grateful to the residents of Lynwood, and I’m looking forward to four more years of hard work.”
In Riverdale, indicted Mayor Lawrence Jackson was leading with 408 votes against challenger Michael Airhart, according to unofficial results.
Jackson could not be immediately reached.
Lynwood
Curry, elected in 2021 as Lynwood’s first female African American village president, ran with a slate including trustees Randall Blakey and David Lilly, both up for reelection, Police and Fire Commissioner Bryan Hurt, running for trustee, and Clerk Karen Wingfield-Bond, seeking reelection.
Unofficial results show Hurt, Blakey and Lilly leading for the three trustee seats.
Curry said Glenwood Mayor Ronald Gardiner told her to run her race like you’re going to lose.
“I felt like that was good advice, because if you’re overly confident you’ll get lazy, and we never got lazy,” she said. “We’ve been out here doing the work, and now we’re seeing the fruits of our labor.”
Curry’s team faced opposition from a slate named The Lynwood Choice Team headed by Detonya Armstrong, a registered nurse who has lived in Lynwood for 10 years.
“The village has woken up to me. So if the village prospers from any of this race, I feel like I already won,” Armstrong said at the polls Tuesday, saying she would hold her head high regardless of the results.
Other members on Armstrong’s slate were incumbent Trustee Rolanda Clark, Linda Miller, a registered nurse, and Jacqueline McGee, a community advocate who works in early childhood education.
The village president’s salary was increased from $20,000 to $85,000 in 2022, according to the municipal code, following approval at a board meeting Feb. 22, 2022, meeting minutes show.
The salary adjustment will take effect after the April 2025 consolidated election. According to the village’s municipal code, Lynwood’s village president is expected to work full-time, at 40 hours per week.
Each trustee receives $3,900 annually, while the clerk’s salary is set at $24,400 per year, according to the municipal code.
The village president’s salary was lowered in 2019 under former four-term incumbent Eugene Williams, from $85,000 to $20,000, to take effect in the next term starting in 2021, when Curry was elected. The change was approved at a Aug. 27, 2019, board meeting where Curry was the only trustee to oppose the salary reduction, and several residents voiced concerns about how the decision could affect efforts to attract mayoral candidates, meeting minutes show.
Curry said economic development, public safety and addressing the village’s finances and reducing its debt are a top priority. In 2019, Lynwood was sued for over $1 million in unpaid risk management fees and put on a payment plan.
“We’re seeing new businesses pop up. We have some more in the pipeline that I’m really excited about,” she said.
Unlike her predecessor, Curry opposed bringing a south suburban casino to Lynwood, and had opposed a proposal with the Ho-Chunk Nation for a casino east of Illinois 394, north of the Glenwood-Dyer Road interchange. This location was one of four finalists for a license from the Illinois Gaming Board, which was ultimately given to Wind Creek LLC to build the Wind Creek Chicago Southland casino that straddles Homewood and East Hazel Crest.
Riverdale
Jackson, the incumbent mayor in Riverdale, faced Michael Airhart in the primary.
Riverdale Mayor Lawrence Jackson. (Lawrence Jackson)
Airhart, a longtime resident who runs the nonprofit organization Taste for the Homeless, told the Southtown he believes he received “signs from God” to run and bring trust back to the mayor’s office.
While the polls were still open at Village Hall Tuesday, Airhart expressed confidence in his chances of ousting Jackson.
“The people of Riverdale, they are tired,” Airhart said. “Everybody’s tired now, everybody wants something new and different. We’re not indicted.”
Jackson was charged in 2023 with perjury and obstruction of justice in U.S. District Court for allegedly lying in a civil deposition about accepting secret funding for his trucking business from a clout-heavy waste hauling firm.
Jackson’s indictment alleged the mayor and his wife started their trucking company, Centennial Holdings, in 2018 despite knowing nothing about the business and putting up no capital. The business was run by James and Kelly Bracken, who own Riverdale Materials LLC, which was sued in 2018 by a competing company that said Jackson gave the business special treatment in his position as mayor. The indictment charges Jackson lied on the stand during proceedings in that lawsuit.
In Riverdale, the village president is expected to work at least 25 hours a week and has a salary of $69,900 a year, which covers all responsibilities, including serving as the liquor control commissioner, according to the village’s municipal code. The village also provides the president with a car. Every May 1, starting in 2010, the village president’s salary will increase by 2% from the previous year, the municipal code states.
Trustees Gregory Lewis, Erik LeVere and Bradley Smith as well as Village Clerk Karen Holcomb also ran to keep their seats. Betty Ervin-Robinson challenging Holcomb and Kenneth Williams, Pamela Henning, Rasheena Thomas and Michael A. Smith ran for village trustee.
Unofficial results show Holcomb leading for the clerk spot, and Bradley Smith, LeVere and Lewis ahead for the trustee seats.
Riverdale trustees are paid $12,000 annually and receive $100 per month for expenses, according to the village’s municipal code. They also have the option to enroll in the village’s health and dental insurance plan. Each year, the trustees’ compensation will increase by 2%, though the board can vote in May to waive this increase for that year, the municipal code states.
smoilanen@chicagotribune.com
