The Homer Glen Electoral Board ruled Monday village trustee candidate Heidi “Hadley” Pacella would not appear on the ballot because her name on her nominating petitions amounted to a political slogan.
Pericles Abbasi, an attorney for Craig Carlson who objected to 14 petitions, said Pacella using “Hadley” in her nominating petitions runs afoul of state election code, which bars political slogans in candidates’ names.
Last year, Pacella protested Will County’s plan to widen a 4-mile stretch of road known as County Highway 1, which included parts of Parker Road, Chicago-Bloomington Trail and Hadley Road. In December 2023, the Will County Board approved the jurisdictional transfer of the majority of the corridor to Homer Glen. Just under half a mile is within New Lenox Township and was given to its road district to maintain.
Pacella created a website, www.parker-hadley.com, and started a change.org petition that collected nearly 2,300 signatures of people interested in saving the woodland corridor and preserving Homer Glen’s environmental integrity. She also estimated attending 10 to 15 Homer Glen, Homer Township and Will County meetings.
Having “Hadley” on the ballot gives her “a leg up on the competition,” Abbasi said.
“She’s made her name with Hadley Road and Hadley Road preservation,” Abbasi said. “So when she puts Hadley on the ballot, that for her is a political slogan. It’s letting people know, ‘Oh, she’s the one who fought the project on Hadley Road. She fought to preserve it. She fought to preserve the trees, preserve the scenery, and that’s what she will do if she’s in office.’”
Abbasi said context matters. He compared it to someone who may have used the nickname “MAGA” in 2010 versus someone who might use it in 2024. The 2010 use could have been construed as a nickname, while the 2024 use would be a political slogan, Abbasi said.
Michael Carroll, attorney to the Electoral Board, said candidates have been kicked off the ballot for using titles such as “Coach” or “Reverend” or for using slogans such as “Cut the Taxes.”
“There is no constitutional right to use the ballot as a forum for advocating a policy or communicating a message,” Carroll said.
Illinois Election Code allows candidates to use their given names or initials or a nickname by which they are commonly known in addition to their surname, Carroll said. No other information, such as political slogans, titles, degrees or a nickname implying a title, degree or professional status, can be used, he said.
Pacella’s attorney Alan Bruggeman said it was “a stretch of the imagination” to believe that a street name was a political slogan. Pacella was using the name to promote environmental awareness, and never used it in any campaign materials, he said.
“If she claimed her nickname was ‘Low Taxes Heidi,’ that would probably be a political slogan,” Bruggeman said.
Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike, the head of the Electoral Board, abstained from voting, with members Clerk Candice Bielski and Trustee Sue Steilen voting the name was an improper nickname that could not be used.
The Electoral Board has been hearing objections to 15 out of 17 candidates who filed to run for three trustee spots in the spring’s municipal elections.
The board also heard an objection Monday to the candidacy of Kyle Surges.
Voters are only allowed to sign the nominating papers for as many positions that are available, which would be the three open trustee positions.
The objections stated several voters signed the petition papers of four or more potential candidates. These candidates include former trustee Ruben L. Pazmino, Kevin Koukol, John Hayes, Katie Surges and Kyle Surges.
The Electoral Board heard the objection to Kyle Surges because he had one sheet of signatures notarized Oct. 20, the same day as the other candidates, but had the majority of his signatures notarized Oct. 26.
Abbasi argued it could be inferred that Surges collected signatures from Oct. 20 to Oct. 26 and those duplicate signatures should be tossed, leaving him with an insufficient amount.
Bruggeman said there is no evidence who signed which petitions first and on what date. A notarization date and the date the signatures were collected are not the same, he said.
Both Steilen and Neitzke-Troike did not want to strike Surges’ signatures and asked to seek out additional information from the Will County clerk’s office.
The board continued the hearing to Dec. 17 to finish ruling on the objections.
Carlson said he objected to several candidates because of the significant number of rule violations.
He said he believed it was a calculated attempt to force a primary in February, cause chaos and mock the system. A primary would be needed if 13 people were on the ballot.
The Electoral Board last month removed incumbent Trustee Jennifer Trzos-Consolino, John Walters, Theresa “Tammy” Hayes and James J. Roti because they also filed for a school board race and cannot run for both offices at the same time.
They also removed Daniel Gutierrez, who did not have enough signatures once duplicate signatures were removed. Both Cesar E. Marin and Ethan D. Fialko were removed because they did not include their correct home addresses on their petitions.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
