The Nominating Committee of the Garden City Estates Property Owners Association officially announced that they had selected James Costello as their candidate for the position of village trustee. That seat is currently occupied by John Mauk, who was appointed by Mayor Harold Hecken last May, after his name had been submitted via petition. Now, months later, a petition has been submitted in order for John Mauk to challenge Costello for the trustee seat. A runoff election between the two candidates will be held between the hours of 4-9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 30 at the high school foyer to determine whose name will be on the ballot for the March election.

Kathy Seifried, chair of the nominating committee of the Estates POA thanked her committee and noted that they had met several times over the fall and had met several candidates in order to nominate candidates, not only for the position of trustee, but also to nominate a candidate for mayor and a candidate for school board trustee. In addition to their nomination of Costello for village trustee, the committee selected Deputy Mayor Robert Lewis as the candidate for mayor and Colleen Foley as the candidate for school board trustee. The only challenge came with the nomination of Costello.

According to the Garden City Community Agreement, any resident of a section of the village may be put forward as a candidate, if not selected by the POA's nominating committee, if they submit a petition with the names of at least 15 resident electors from that particular section of the village. Jim Cunningham, a resident of the Estates, nominated Mauk and brought forth such a petition at the Jan. 16 meeting of the resident electors. Any eligible voter who is a resident of the Estates section of the village, whether they are a member of the property owners' association or not, may vote in the Jan. 30 runoff election.

James Costello and his wife Pat are the parents of seven children, the youngest of whom currently attends the middle school. His community activities include serving as a director and former member of the nominating committee of the Estates POA; a director of the Garden City Chamber of Commerce for 20 years, and serving as president of that organization from 1981-1983 and 1993-1995; member of the Garden City Jaycees, where he served as president from 1973-1974; Garden City Lions, where he served as president from 1977-1978; director of the Men's Association of Garden City High School for eight years; member of the Eastern Property Owners Association's 7 and 10 member nominating committees; St. Joseph Church Men's Guild Board of Directors; and a coach for Garden City Soccer and Garden City Little League. Various recognitions Costello has received include Outstanding Citizen of Garden City, by the Jaycees- 1978; Outstanding Citizen of Garden City by Chamber- 1985; and the Bellinger Award for Outstanding Service by the Garden City Community Fund- 1982. He has been a resident of the village since 1969. Costello has also been actively involved with the Boy Scouts, Mercy Hospital, American Cancer Society, and Tilles Center and Family Services.

John Mauk and his wife Ellen Schuler Mauk, have two children, both of whom are currently students in the Garden City Schools. A resident of the village since 1978, Mauk has been involved in many aspects of the community including the village planning commission and the ad hoc committee for the school bond project. He and the other members of this committee were the 1999 recipients of the Garden City Chamber of Commerce's "Citizen of the Year" award, received recognition from the PTA in 1998 and received a certificate of appreciation from the school board for their ongoing efforts. Mauk served on the Estates Property Owner's Association's 15-member nominating committee, has been a coach for boys and girls traveling and intramural soccer continuously since 1988, and is serving as the Building Committee advisor for the Garden City Community Church for some building improvement plans they want to undertake. During his tenure on the board, Mauk has served as liaison to the traffic commission, the chamber of commerce, the planning commission, the zoning board of appeals, the architectural design review committee, and the committee studying the future of St. Paul's. In addition he has served as chairman of the trustees subcommittee to consider a Business Improvement District (BID).

After nominations were closed each of the candidates were given an opportunity to speak.

Costello stated that he was humbled by the nominating committee's selection of him as their candidate. In speaking of the runoff election, Costello said, "I will not have a campaign manager ... I will not have a finance committee, nor will I have any type of fund-raising committee. I will not have a petition. I have not started a 'Letters to the Editor' writing campaign and I will not start one. I will not attack John Mauk, because I think he's a fine gentleman. And I will abide by the spirit and intent of the Community Agreement."

Costello then went on to speak about what he felt qualified him for the position of trustee. "My ability to lead, to bring various groups together, has been demonstrated by my appointment to the president's position for many of these organizations," said Costello. "Given my depth and breadth of involvement across most facets of the village, I feel I am uniquely qualified for the position of trustee."

Costello concluded, "The nominating committee has interviewed both of the candidates, the nominating committee has selected me. I will not do a campaign. I believe in the spirit of the property owners' agreement, the gentleman's agreement ... If my fellow residents care to vote for me, fine, if they care to vote for John and the way that he has gotten to this position then that's fine too, it's your choice."

Mauk then spoke about his appointment and noted that when the mayor selected him as trustee, he had stated that he felt Mauk's background and experience with construction and development projects would be an asset to the board. This familiarity, said Mauk, comes from his work, where he has been responsible for retaining and managing contractors and professional firms for such services and his current position as manager of Contract and Consultant Services for the World Trade Center. Mauk explained that the mayor felt that his experience would be useful in dealing with issues concerning the future of St. Paul's; the modernization and expansion of Village Hall; the revitalization of the business district, including the ongoing debate about the need to expand some of the parking fields into residential areas. "Some of the same issues that are in front of the trustees now, I worked on previously as a member of the planning commission for nine years," said Mauk.

Mauk went on to note that the most important issues facing the village do not lend themselves to easy solutions. He explained that although some may say that it would be easier for him to just walk away from these difficult decisions and let someone else worry about them, that is not his style. He said that his guiding principle as trustee is to try to determine, and act on, what he feels is in the best interest of the village as a whole as well as in the best interests of the residents of the Estates. "Whether it's a village issue of a school board matter, as residents we are all affected, and the expenditures all come out of the same pockets," said Mauk. "I try to take an open approach in addressing the issues, and I do my best to consider the views of other trustees and other residents before making my decision. I have no particular bias in favor of, or against, the business community, any particular business interest, or any other group. I have no hidden agendas. In my view, that approach is what the best spirit of the Community Agreement is all about."

Mauk concluded, "I'm now being challenged for my trustee position, but I want to finish what I've started. I hope the resident electors of the Estates will give me that opportunity on Jan. 30."