Top Vote-Getters In 4-Way Oak Lawn Library Board Race

OAK LAWN, IL — Here are the unofficial totals for the Oak Lawn Public Library Board of Trustee race.

Cook County polls closed at 7 p.m. Early voting and vote-by-mail ballots are included in the total. Provisional ballots and late arriving vote-by-mail ballots are not included, according to the Cook County Clerk's Office. All results are unofficial.

Four candidates battled it out for three open seats on the Oak Lawn library board. With polls closed. Heather McCarthy got the most votes with 2,042 (30.01%), followed by Carrie O'Keefe, with 1,970 votes (28.99%). Incumbent Joseph Skibinski finished with 1,493 votes (21.95%). Tony Lantz finished last with 1,305 votes (13%).

Incumbent Skibinski is a CPA, specializing in taxes and audits. He wants to keep budget growth below the rate of inflation. Maintaining a balanced collection and programming schedule that meets the community’s needs and serves its interests, expanding services and resources for older residents and local business community are priorities for the next board.

“A public purse that holds your hard-earned dollars and not a public trough,” Skibinski said.
Tony Lantz is well known to Oak Lawn residents as the general manager for Lawn Aqua Pool.

“The Oak Lawn Public Library takes more than $5 million in taxes from Oak Lawn residents and businesses, and I will work to make sure that money is spent wisely.”

Carrie O’Keefe is a business owner and taught elementary school for 15 years.

“I want to make our library the envy of all area libraries with expanded services and offerings,” O’Keefe said. And I want to find ways to cut waste and eliminate outdated ways of doing things, and devote those savings and energies toward new and popular ideas and initiatives.”

Heather McCarthy is a media specialist and librarian at Oak Lawn Hometown Middle School.

“I would like to continue to build upon the successes of the library while also contributing new and innovative ideas and events,” McCarthy said. “I would like to see an increase in patrons and attendance at events.”