St. Charles mayoral candidates talk leadership styles, city issues
St. Charles mayoral candidate Clint Hull is an avid athlete, from being a star player on his high school soccer team to his current battles on the pickleball court. He says he wants the city council to be a team.
Mayor Lora Vitek cites the city’s accomplishments over the past four years, such as paying down its debt and getting retail development on the east side, and her experience as reasons to keep her at the helm for a second term.
They spoke about why they are running and other matters during a recent interview with the Daily Herald. A video of the interview is available on dailyherald.com.
Clint Hull
Hull, 57, has lived in St. Charles his whole life. He retired last year as a Kane County judge, including several years as its chief judge. Before that, he was a criminal prosecutor, rising to the level of first assistant, which meant he helped oversee the office’s attorneys and staff. He served eight years on the St. Charles Park Board, including as its president.
Lora Vitek
Vitek, 47, has lived in St. Charles for about 15 years. She is the executive director of Delta Dental. She was an alderman for four years before being elected mayor in 2021.
Hull said he thought about running in 2021 when Ray Rogina stepped down, but he was still a judge and could not do both jobs. But what got him thinking about it again was a July 2022 city council meeting, where he was asked to swear in a replacement alderman. Judges often are asked to swear in officials at villages throughout Kane County.
He said he was shocked when four aldermen voted against the mayor’s choice because they did not like the process of choosing a candidate. The vacancy was not advertised by the city, they said.
“I did poll council members that work with me and are aligned with me and I trust,” Vitek said at that meeting. She said their dissension was “clearly political” and that “everything I do is to move the city forward, and everyone in this room, minus four people, can attest to that.”
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“I keep coming back to one thing: You need a team,” Hull said. “The mayor has to bring everyone together. Everybody has to feel that they have a voice, and everybody has to feel that they are being heard. And I don’t believe that is happening right now.”
But Vitek said she practices “collaborative, creative, energetic leadership” that includes open dialogue.
She says Hull did not understand the 2022 situation and that there had been meetings before that meeting about the appointment.
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Vitek spoke about accomplishments, such as getting a Whole Foods grocery store to open downtown, the development of the First Street Plaza, and the approval of the Fox Haven Square development near Charlestowne Mall, which will have a coffee cafe, two new restaurants and a pickleball club.
“Things are booming,” she said, citing a low vacancy rate in commercial buildings downtown. She said the number of visitors to the city has increased.
“That’s why experience in municipal government is important,” Vitek said.
Both candidates favor keeping the dam on the Fox River in place, at least for now.
Hull is endorsed by former mayors Fred Norris and Sue Klinkhamer, as well as eight former aldermen. Vitek is endorsed by Rogina and two present and one former alderman.
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