George Cardenas

George Cardenas

Cardenas ousts Wendt in Dem primary for Board of Review

Spread the love

By Bob Bong

Palos Heights attorney and Realtor Tammy Wendt was denied a second term Tuesday night when she was defeated by Chicago Ald. George Cardenas in the Democratic primary for the Board of Review 1st District.

Wendt said the party had been out to get her since she surprisingly prevailed in 2020 over endorsed Democrat Abdelnasser Rashid in the primary and then beat Republican incumbent Dan Patlak in the general election.

“The dirty politicians are trying to get me out,” said Wendt in the days leading up to the primary. “They changed my district and tried to make it a Hispanic district. They don’t want me because I have tried to pull back the curtain on corruption.”

tammy wendt

Tammy Wendt

“The results are clear and I am humbled that the voters have elected me as their new Cook County Board of Review Commissioner,” Cardenas wrote on Twitter Tuesday night.

The Cook County Board of Review is a three-member board, elected from three electoral districts. The 1st District has a total population of 1,733,383, with Latinos accounting for about 43 percent. It stretches from Barrington in the northwest suburbs to Palos Heights.

She was defeated Tuesday by Cardenas, who is serving his fifth term as alderman of the 12th Ward on the city’s Southwest Side.

A spokesperson for Cardenas’ campaign said the alderman will leave his City Council post before he assumes office for his Board of Review role in December. He said Cardenas hasn’t made a decision on when exactly he will step down.

In the city, Cardenas was leading 20,125 to 11,417 with 87 percent of the vote counted. In the suburbs, Wendt was ahead 33,670 to 29,696 with 98 percent of the precincts reporting.

In the City Council, he’s deputy floor leader. In private practice, he’s an accountant and a tax professional. He lives in the McKinley Park neighborhood.

He is the son of immigrants who came to Chicago when he was a child to chase the American Dream.

He says he will work against unfair assessments and improve accuracy to avoid property tax hikes driven by mistaken calculations. He will serve with integrity and dedication.

He is a Navy veteran who spent a decade working for Fortune 500 companies before seeking elected office.

The Board of Review is a three-person board that oversees the Cook County Assessor’s Office and is in charge of hearing appeals from homeowners who feel their property assessment and thereby their property taxes are too high or otherwise unfair.

“My district heard about 250,000 appeals last year,” Wendt said.

Wendt had been critical of Assessor Fritz Kaegi, who survived a bitter primary battle with Karen Steele, president of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.

“Fritz is causing delays in getting out property tax bills,” she said. “The second installment for property tax for this year won’t go out until late in the year and most likely next year. Taxing districts are mad. They won’t be getting the tax dollars they rely on to operate.”

Kaegi defeated Steele in what was the county’s most expensive and high-profile primary contest.

Kaegi led Steele with 54% of the vote with 62% of the vote counted, according to early and unofficial returns.

Kaegi declared victory just after 9:30 p.m., shortly after Steele conceded the race.

Local News

big PoliceLights1

Police Blotter

Spread the love

Spread the loveCHICAGO RIDGE DUI Orlando De La Rosa, 32, of Berwyn, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol following a traffic stop at 2:29 a.m. March 8 in the 9200 block of South Harlem Avenue. Police said he failed field sobriety tests and refused to submit a breath sample. He was also…

Oak Lawn Mayor Terry Vorderer rides in the Fourth of July parade in 2022. (File photo)

Oak Lawn seeks participants for Fourth of July parade

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Joe Boyle It may be spring, but it is not too early to talk about a summer parade. The Oak Lawn Village Board approved a resolution Tuesday morning authorizing the submission of a permit request to the Illinois Department of Transportation for the 2024 Fourth of July Parade. The resolution approves the…

Veronica Shaw

Sandburg welcomes new associate principal of instruction

Spread the love

Spread the loveConsolidated High School District 230 Board of Education is welcoming Dr. Veronica Shaw to Carl Sandburg High School as its new Associate Principal of Instruction. She begins July 1 and replaces Anita Huffman who was recently appointed as District 230’s Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services. With ample education leadership experience, Shaw is currently…

Funeral2

Obituaries March 28, 2024

Spread the love

Spread the loveHONORATA BIS Honorata Bis (nee Donicz), age 71, passed away peacefully with loving family by her side February 27. Beloved wife of Adam Bis; loving mother of Konrad Bis and Monika (Mariusz) Sarna; dear grandmother of Michael, Matthew, Amelia and Szymon; dearest daughter of the late Irena (nee Szaniawska) and the late Jan…

Sheri Cannataro, of Cannataro Farms, demonstrates the gear she wears to extract honey from a bee hive for visitors who stopped by to see her products at the Hills Chamber of Commerce Business and Community Expo Saturday at Conrady Junior High School in Hickory Hills. (Photos by Joe Boyle)

Residents warm up to Hills Chamber Business Expo

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Joe Boyle Spring has arrived but winter continues to leave its calling card. However, that did not prevent the Hills Chamber of Commerce from holding its 10th annual Business and Community Expo Saturday at Conrady Junior High School in Hickory Hills. While the temperatures were frigid and windy outside, the spirit inside…

Palos Park Mayor Nicole Milovich-Walters speaks about zoning codes at the March 25 council meeting. (Photo by Jeff Vorva)

Palos Park to tweak outdated village zoning codes

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva The village of Palos Park has no grand plan to change the village landscape. But officials want to modernize some of its zoning codes. “The village has not comprehensively updated its development regulations since 1960,” Mayor Nicole Milovich-Walters said at the March 25 village council meeting. “Due to this, there…

Ridgeland sd122 logo

SD122 psychologist resigns over Islamophobic posts

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Nuha Abdessalam A psychologist for Ridgeland School District 122 has resigned after hundreds of parents demanded she be fired for social media posts that were pro-Israeli and anti-Palestinian. District Supt. Joseph Matise announced at a schoolboard meeting last week that Dr. Laurie Hoke had resigned. “Dr. Hoke will no longer be working…

CRR_NH

Clear-Ridge Reporter and NewsHound March 27, 2024

Spread the love

Spread the love

Mary Stanek

Will the month of March leave like a lion?

Spread the love

Spread the love. By Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place •  (773) 517-7796 . The days are getting longer and slightly warmer. But my prediction of a few weeks ago–March is certainly not leaving like a lamb–may prove to be correct. A sure sign of spring in…

Peggy Zabicki

Robin sighting a sign of new beginnings

Spread the love

Spread the love. By Peggy Zabicki Your correspondent in West Lawn 3633 W. 60th Place •  (773) 504-9327 . I saw a robin the other day. This was the first sighting of the season for me. I remember my mom saying that the first robin of spring is a promise of new beginnings. May it be so. Is…

Neighbors

Appeals court skeptical of Mike Bost’s case to stop ballot counts after Election Day

Appeals court skeptical of Mike Bost’s case to stop ballot counts after Election Day

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – A panel of federal appellate judges on Thursday seemed skeptical of legal arguments made on behalf of Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, who claims Illinois’ law allowing counting of mail-in ballots for two weeks after an election is in violation of federal law. Bost’s late 2022…

DCFS hires on-the-spot at hiring events

DCFS hires on-the-spot at hiring events

By BETH HUNDSDORFER  Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com Cyrenthia Threat spent Wednesday morning at a hiring event in Fairview Heights waiting for word on whether she was hired by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.  Threat wants to move to Illinois from Georgia where she works as a social worker. She has 20 years…

Capitol Briefs: Advocates push for guaranteed income, child care assistance

Capitol Briefs: Advocates push for guaranteed income, child care assistance

By HANNAH MEISEL & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear the case of actor Jussie Smollett, who was convicted for staging a hate crime against him in 2019 in a case that drew criticism for Cook County’s top prosecutor. Smollett made what turned out to be…

Illinois teacher shortage persists, survey finds

Illinois teacher shortage persists, survey finds

By PETER HANCOCK  Capitol News Illinois  phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com  SPRINGFIELD – Illinois continues to suffer from a shortage of teachers and other education professionals, although recent efforts by the state to ease the strain have made an impact.  That’s according to the latest annual survey of school officials from the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools,…

Bills in state Senate would further regulate battery storage and disposal

Bills in state Senate would further regulate battery storage and disposal

COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD — Two bills that would regulate battery disposal and storage are awaiting action from the full Illinois Senate after unanimous committee approval.   Senate Bill 3481, sponsored by Sen. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, would require facilities that store electric vehicle batteries to register with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency…

Prisoner Review Board chair, member resign in wake of boy’s fatal stabbing by released inmate

Prisoner Review Board chair, member resign in wake of boy’s fatal stabbing by released inmate

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com The longtime chair and a relatively new member of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board have resigned, Gov. JB Pritzker’s office announced Monday. The governor’s office announced the pair’s resignations within hours of each other nearly two weeks after Crosetti Brand was released from Stateville Correctional Center. Brand is…

Highest-ranking woman in state police history reflects on experience as force looks to diversify

Highest-ranking woman in state police history reflects on experience as force looks to diversify

By ALEX ABBEDUTO   Capitol News Illinois  abbeduto@capitolnewsillinois.com  The night before Rebecca Hooks started at the Illinois State Police Academy in 2002, she spoke on the phone with her father and her brother – both of whom worked in law enforcement.  Her father encouraged her, telling her she was strong and could get through the…

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

 By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO — State regulators are once again considering massive electric utility spending plans that would affect the state’s climate goals – and 5.4 million electric customers’ monthly bills – after rejecting previous versions late last year. The Illinois Commerce Commission forced the state’s two major electric utilities, Commonwealth…

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

 By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO — State regulators are once again considering massive electric utility spending plans that would affect the state’s climate goals – and 5.4 million electric customers’ monthly bills – after rejecting previous versions late last year. The Illinois Commerce Commission forced the state’s two major electric utilities, Commonwealth…

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

 By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO — State regulators are once again considering massive electric utility spending plans that would affect the state’s climate goals – and 5.4 million electric customers’ monthly bills – after rejecting previous versions late last year. The Illinois Commerce Commission forced the state’s two major electric utilities, Commonwealth…