Incumbents to face challengers for Naperville D203 and Naperville Park Board seats in April election
The filing period for Naperville-area candidates wanting to be on the April 4 election ballot for school and park board seats ended Monday.
In Naperville School District 203, there are six people vying for three open seats: incumbents Kristine Gericke and Joseph Kozminski and challengers Barbara Higgs, Gilbert Wagner, Ronald Amato and Melissa Kelley Black.
Tony Casey, a third incumbent, opted not to seek reelection.
Gericke was first elected to the D203 board in 2017 and Kozminski in 2019. Both live in Naperville.
Higgs, of Naperville, retired from CBS television, and Wagner lives in Bolingbrook in the district’s far southeast corner.
Amato, of Naperville, is an attorney with CNA Insurance and a secretary of the KidsMatter board of directors.
The last to file was Black, who lives near the city’s downtown area.
Four Naperville candidates are running for the three open four-year terms on the Naperville Park Board: incumbent Rich Janor, Christopher Jacks, John Risvold and Mahboube “Michelle” Haghighi.
Janor was first elected to the board in 2011 and served two terms as president.
Jacks has been a member of the Naperville Historical Preservation Commission since 2017.
John Risvold is an attorney at the Collins Law Firm in Naperville and spouse of Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Kaylin Risvold.
Haghighi is vice president at FAMA Technology in Naperville.
Incumbents Marie Todd and Josh McBroom, who’s running for the Naperville City Council, did not seek reelection.
In Indian Prairie District 204, three candidates will run unopposed: incumbents Justin Karubas, of Naperville, and Mark Rising, of Aurora, and Aurora resident Catey Genc, president of the Indian Prairie Parents’ Council.
Karubas has been on the D204 board since 2013 and Rising since 2011.
Natasha Grover, a third board incumbent, did not file for reelection.
Besides the school and park board candidates, the April 4 ballot will include the races for Naperville mayor and city council, filing for which ended earlier in the month.
Running for the four-year mayoral term are Benny White, Scott Wehrli and Tiffany Stephens.
Also on the ballot are 12 candidates seeking to fill four open four-year terms: Nag Jaiswal, Rebecca Malotke-Meslin, Josh McBroom, Jodi Trendler, Patrick Kelly, Nathan “Nate” Wilson, Ashfaq Syed, Meghna Bansal, Ashley South, Allison Longenbaugh, Derek McDaniel and Madhu Uppal.
