Though his petition for formal candidacy was rejected, Oak Lawn resident Thomas Karones said he will pursue a write-in campaign for mayor in the April 2021 election.

If Karones files as a write-in candidate by the Feb. 4 deadline, he’ll challenge Oak Lawn Trustee Terry Vorderer, who will be the only mayoral candidate on the ballot.

Vorderer and Karones both filed petitions to run before the Dec. 21 deadline, said Village Clerk Jane Quinlan, but she said Karones did not have enough signatures “by any means” to qualify.

The number of required signatures varies by municipality, based on the number of votes cast in immediate prior elections.

Karones said he tried to file his petition using an interpretation of Illinois election law he said required fewer signatures.

“We had two conflicting numbers, and we went by the one and they went by the other one,” Karones said.

Karones said he filed more than 100 signatures, while Vorderer said he collected more than 2,500.

Karones, 91, said he collected his signatures in one day. He referred to Vorderer’s filing for mayoral candidacy as a kind of end-run around the system.

“What gets me is, this guy — it was done so quietly. Most people didn’t even know there was an election coming up in April,” Karones said.

Election information is publicly available, and Vorderer’s campaign launch was widely publicized, with a Facebook page, news coverage and a public endorsement from incumbent Mayor Sandra Bury, who announced she was not seeking a third term.

Vorderer, a lifelong Oak Lawn resident and trustee for eight years, is running with a slate of candidates under the party name Oak Lawn First.

Vorderer said his slate is anxious to tackle Oak Lawn’s pension crisis, what he called an all-too-common problem among Illinois municipalities and the state itself.

Vorderer also wants to continue modernizing commerce in the village, he said, including updating from its heyday in the 1960s and rebounding from the pandemic downturn.

“We want to reestablish the viable business community we had before the virus. We have a lot of developers who are interested,” he said.

None of the other village board candidates has a challenger. Trustees Alex Olejniczak, of the 2nd District, and Tom Phelan, 6th District, are running for reelection. Jamie Pembroke, running in the 4th District, is a 30-year Oak Lawn resident and a career educator, teaching at Evergreen Park High School for the past 20 years.

Quinlan is retiring and will not seek reelection as village clerk. Claire Henning, a lifelong Oak Lawn resident and professional tax preparer, is running for clerk.

Karones said he is actively looking for candidates to join him in a bid to prevent Oak Lawn from “turning into another Chicago,” which he said is run by people whose primary interest is making money for themselves.

He lashed out at the Great Society programs of President Lyndon Johnson, saying it destroyed the Black family structure.

He also said he wants to get Oak Lawn residents more involved, especially senior citizens. He mentioned creating a resale bookstore and coffee shop that would be run by seniors, and having seniors mentor Oak Lawn youth virtually over the internet.

Karones said he served in the U.S. Army at the end of the Korean War.

“I think the worst thing that happened in this country is when they stopped the draft. The problem with the last three generations is that they lack discipline,” Karones said.