Steger trustees deadlock through repeated nomination rounds to fill village president vacancy

Trustees of the Village of Steger met Oct. 7 and conducted multiple rounds of nominations to fill the village president vacancy created by the recent death of Mayor Kenneth Peterson. Trustees nominated and re‑nominated several members — Gerald Stewart, William Joyce and Cindy Trotier — but no candidate received the four votes required to be seated as president.

The board took sequential roll‑call votes; after one round the tally was "1 vote for Trustee Stewart, 2 votes for William Joyce and 3 votes for Ernie Lopez," and in later rounds tallies again failed to reach the four‑vote threshold. The Village Attorney advised that seating a president in this context requires a majority of the corporate authority and suggested the nominations process may continue until the vacancy is filled or the board may appoint a temporary chair (mayor pro‑tem) that expires at the end of the meeting. The Village Attorney summarized the legal standard: "The requirement for the seating of a chair in a situation such as this require a majority of the corporate authority which means 4 members have to vote for one, or 3 votes for one and an abstention." (Village Attorney)

Trustees discussed alternative approaches, including rotating a chairman pro‑tem for successive meetings and delaying a permanent selection to a later date. Several trustees noted the unusual, sensitive nature of filling the mayor's office after a longtime mayor's passing and emphasized the need to continue village business in the interim. The meeting record shows the board did not elect a permanent president that evening and instead proceeded to appoint a chairman pro‑tem to run the meeting.