DuPage board filling holes left by resignations

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Updated: March 16, 2012 8:04AM

The DuPage County Board will soon be running at full capacity again.

After two months without its full 18-representative head count, the board this week gave the nod to one appointee and is expected to vote on a second replacement for two Republican members who left unexpired terms to take new jobs.

After filing to run for another term in next month’s primary, District 4 board member Debra Olson of Wheaton announced she was stepping down Dec. 5, less than an hour before the filing period for the March 20 balloting closed. Olson said her departure was triggered by a new professional opportunity at the helm of the DuPage Home Ownership Center.

District 2 representative Brien Sheahan, a 10-year board member, followed Olson six weeks later. Saying he wanted to spend more time with his toddler son, Sheahan bowed out effective Jan. 31, and immediately began work as a director of government affairs for Navistar International Corp., based in Lisle.

Chairman Dan Cronin’s nomination of Wheaton resident William Bedrossian as Olson’s replacement drew unanimous approval from the full board Tuesday. Bedrossian and Winfield securities trader Chris LeVan were Cronin’s top two picks from a field of 11 applicants who spoke at a forum in Wheaton a month ago.

Thirteen residents of District 2 — which reaches west to the far northeast corner of Naperville — applied to take over Sheahan’s uncompleted term. Cronin last week chose four finalists who have been invited to take part in a forum Thursday evening in Elmhurst. The final four include Michael Ledonne, William Mulligan, Cathy Ficker Terrill and Zachary Wilson.

A supply chain manager with Sears Holdings, Lombard resident Ledonne, 40, serves on citizen committees in York Township, state legislative District 41 and the village of Lombard. He cites governmental transparency and efficiency among his top priorities.

Downers Grove resident Mulligan, 42, is a marketing executive with Acxiom Corp. and coach with the Downers Grove Park District. He supports the board’s controversial decision to close the youth home in Wheaton and enter a partnership with the Kane County Juvenile Justice Center, and advocates for a creative approach to streamlining operations.

Terrill, 57, lives in Elmhurst and is currently CEO of the Institute on Public Policy. Retired CEO of the Ray Graham Association, she has extensive experience in the nonprofit sector. Terrill worked until late last year as an interim director of the DuPage Housing Authority after its top administrators and board of directors were forced out in the wake of a $10 million mismanagement scandal.

Attorney and Lombard trustee Wilson, 52, is a York Township Republican committeman and coach with youth baseball and Glenbard South High School’s mock trial program. He is among eight GOP hopefuls running for the three District 2 nominations open in next month’s primary.