The race to see who will be Washington's next mayor has grabbed most of the attention in the city in the runup to the April 1 election, but voters will be making several other decisions.
School board candidates in Washington's four school districts, candidates for the Washington Park District and Washington Library District boards, candidates for city clerk and city treasurer, candidates for Washington Township positions, and supporters of a District 52 referendum to build a new Lincoln Grade School were among the participants Tuesday in a meet-and-greet at Five Points Washington hosted by the Washington Chamber of Commerce.
Washington voters will need to be especially informed about the candidates for the Washington Community High School board.
Six candidates are running for four open seats.
Three candidates are write-ins: Becky Drum, Jewel Ward and Sebastian Whiting. Ward's school board term is expiring this year.
The other candidates are incumbent Chris Kopinski (the board president), Roderick Eyres and Chetna Funk. Eyres was appointed to the board in December to finish the term of the late Gloria McNett.
Ward 1 Alderpersons Mike Brownfield and Lilija Stevens are running for mayor. One will replace Gary Manier, who is not running for re-election after serving as mayor for 24 years.
There are four races for city council seats, one in each ward. Only one race is contested.
Mike Ernst (Ward 2), write-in Brandon Moss (Ward 3) and incumbent Mike McIntyre (Ward 4) are running unopposed.
Paula Johnson and Todd Sluder are the Ward 1 candidates. The winner will replace Brownfield, whose alderperson term is expiring.
Johnson and Sluder each said Tuesday they would like to see more candidates run for the council, but they understand why people are reluctant to do so.
"There's a perception that if you get on the council, you have to vote a certain way. People are afraid to put themselves out there," Johnson said. "You can feel the tension sometimes at council meetings."
Johnson has been president of the WCHS Band Boosters since 2022. She said she's noticed the number of volunteers has dropped off appreciably in recent years.
"People used to flock to the volunteer sign-up sheets like locusts," she said. "Not any more."
Sluder said social media prevents more candidates from running in local elections.
"Social media can be so divisive," he said. "The keyboard warriors out there are just not willing to look at the other side of an issue. If you have human interaction, there's a chance to find some common ground.
"People take the easy way out and don't run. I understand that. You become vulnerable when you run."
Johnson and Sluder faced off at a candidate forum Saturday hosted by the League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria after Brownfield and Stevens debated.
The Ward 1 candidates each said the questions on city issues posed to them were difficult to answer because they don't have the background on the issues that council members do, so they focused on giving persuasive answers to questions about their qualifications.
"I did like my answer on the question of what's the biggest environmental issue facing Washington," Sluder said. "I said mosquitoes. Nobody likes mosquitoes."
While the election is April 1, early voting started last week.
