The Tinley Together political party in was restored to the April 1 ballot after Cook County Judge John Tully Jr. ruled the Tinley Park Electoral Board decision to invalidate nominating petitions was “clearly erroneous.”
The objection claimed the nominating petitions were invalid because they included an array of six small U.S. flags on the top of each page. A three-person village Electoral Board ruled in favor of the objectors Dec. 9, removing a slate led by Michael Maloney in opposition to Mayor Michael Glotz from the ballot.
Village Trustee William Brennan chaired the panel, which included board members Mathias Delort and Paul Karkula. Delort voted against removing the candidates from the ballot.
Objectors Timothy Janecyk and James Green argued in their challenge that the incorporation of the flags was intended “to convey to the voters that the candidates were more American than other candidates that did not have” the flags.
The use of the flags “was specifically to sway voters and create an advantage over other candidates” and an improper attempt to “insert a political slogan” into the nominating papers, the objectors charged.
“Candidates’ petitions complied with requirements of Section 10-4 of the Election Code,” Tully wrote. “The Electoral Board’s ruling to the contrary is clearly erroneous, as it creates an exclusionary rule where none exists.”
Tully cited Delort’s dissenting opinion at length, calling it “the far better view” of the validity of the objection.
Delort said the use of the flags was not on par with including a political slogan into the nominating papers.
“This is a flag used as a decorative motif on a petition, and that’s all it is,” Delort said.
Maloney, Tinley Together’s candidate for mayor, praised Tully’s ruling.
“This victory isn’t just for our team — it’s for the voters of Tinley Park,” he said in a news release.
“The court delivered a scathing rejection of their baseless objections, sending a
clear message that this kind of behavior won’t be tolerated,” Maloney said.
Maloney is running with clerk candidate Cynthia “Cindy” O’Boyle, wife of Bernie O’Boyle, vice president of the Tinley Park-Park Board. Trustee candidates Melissa Sanfilippo, Eric Schmidt and Matthew Walsh are also part of the Tinley Together group.
They will face off against the One Tinley Park slate, headed by Glotz and including Village Clerk Nancy O’Connor and trustees William Brady, Dennis Mahoney and Colleen Sullivan.
Glotz, elected in April 2021, is a member of Operating Engineers Local 150.
Brady first was elected in 2017 and Mahoney and Sullivan in April 2021. O’Connor was appointed village clerk in January 2022 and elected in April 2023.
Maloney is the former president of Pipefitters Local 597 and was named by the Tinley Park-Park-District last year to oversee remediation of the 280-acre former Tinley Park Mental Health Center, which the Park District plans to redevelop for recreation uses.
mnolan@southtownstar.com
