Crystal Lake City Council candidate asks judge to reverse decision on incumbent being kicked off ballot

Crystal Lake City Council candidate Don Kountz this week asked a judge to step in and reverse decisions by city officials that kept incumbent council member Brett Hopkins on the April 4 ballot.

Kountz earlier this month filed objections against the candidacy papers filed by Hopkins as well as council member Ellen Brady and Mayor Haig Haleblian.

Haleblian withdrew his candidacy over the objection, acknowledging that he failed to submit a statement of candidacy as Kountz argued in his objection.

In objecting to Hopkins and Brady, Kountz argued that both failed to clearly established what position they were running for and Brady used the primary election date, rather than the regular election date, on her statement of candidacy.

But Brady and Hopkins had their candidacies sustained by the Crystal Lake Municipal Officers Electoral Board, made up of fellow council member Cathy Ferguson and City Clerk Nick Kachiroubas after Haleblian recused himself.

Kountz and his attorney John Dickson had filed motions seeking Ferguson and Kachiroubas’s removal from the board as well, but electoral board attorney Ken Florey said the only grounds for disqualifying members was if they planned on being witnesses.

Florey also said there was no jurisdiction to hear a motion by the board to disqualify itself.

Kountz also argued in his legal filing this week that he had also objected at the hearing to it moving forward without a third member, saying Haleblian’s vacancy should have been filled by the chief judge in McHenry County.

Ferguson declined to comment on the court filing on Thursday, saying she hadn’t seen it, but said, “the rules are set by state statue, and I just followed the advice of the attorney.”

Hopkins said he didn’t have any particular thoughts about Kountz’ legal challenge, adding that Kountz “can choose any legal acton he thinks is appropriate. That’s his right.”

Challenging petitions is just a part of the process, set up by state statute, and whether he agrees with that process is moot, Hopkins said.

Haleblian said he would like to see state legislators change the filing process to make it less “cumbersome and burdensome” and plans to speak to local legislators about that after the holidays. He pointed to Denver, Colorado, where candidates can have residents sign digitally, using a system that automatically verifies that they’re a registered voter.

The way the process is, he said, he will have a lawyer check his paperwork before he files next time – something not everyone can do – and he had one check his write-in candidacy paperwork as well, refiling after the consultation to make sure it was safe.

Kountz said Thursday that he made the decision to file the challenge in court because “the law is clear” and what the electoral board did “wasn’t right.”

While the circumstances he described in his filing happened for both Hopkins and Brady, he decided to file solely against Hopkins in court, choosing what he said he thought was the stronger case.

Kountz declined to comment on Hopkins as a candidate or person, saying he was frustrated by Haleblian’s decision to make his objections personal.

Haleblian had criticized Kountz’ decision to object to the three candidates, accusing him of bullying and being vindictive.

Haleblian said on Friday that he wants residents to know Hopkins and Brady are “really good people with the best interest of the city at heart.”

“I felt (the process) was transparent,” he said. “I was transparent by stepping down. It was fairly done. I felt the outcome was fair. I don’t know why this transpiring, but again, it’s his choice to conduct himself the way he sees fit.”

Kountz’ legal challenge is scheduled to be up in court on March 21.

He is asking the judge to find Haleblian and Kachiroubas were ineligible to serve on the electoral board, throw out the board’s decision, have the chief judge fill the vacancies and have the objections reheard. He also asked that County Clerk Joe Tirio be prevented from printing Hopkins’ name on the ballot until the electoral board can make a final decision.