Illinois Valley Times

A communications hiccup in Peru Township has resulted in its two candidates for the position of assessor being forced to run as write-ins on the Feb. 28 election ballot, according to the Illinois Valley’s NewsTribune.

Following the discovery that their paperwork lacked required documents from the Illinois Department of Revenue, Democrat Debra Hintz and Republican Jay Koyak will appear on the ballot as write-ins in the upcoming LaSalle County primaries, slated later this month.

“Due to missing paperwork, both Democrat Debra Hintz and Republican Jay Koyak will have to run as write-ins in the Peru Township assessor race,” the LaSalle publication reiterated via its Facebook page.

After LaSalle County Clerk JoAnn Carretto caught the mistake, Peru Township Clerk Steve Weberski expressed regret over the error, attributing it to poor wording in instructions; but at the same time, taking responsibility for the mistake.

“It’s very unfortunate, and I feel terrible for both the assessor candidates for having to go through this write-in situation,” the NewsTribune quoted him as saying recently.

Weberski may have been misled by “vaguely worded candidate guides,” according to the publication.

To Weberski’s credit, it may have been his own thoroughness that first made Carretto sit up and take notice of the discrepancy. According to the NewsTribune, Peru’s clerk was required to submit only a certain limited amount of documentation; but in a moment of diligence, Weberski transferred more than the bare minimum of mandated information, possibly alerting Carretto to the incongruity in the first place.

“All I needed to do was take the certification of ballot form over,” Weberski told the NewsTribune. “The only reason that the county clerk noticed it was because I took all of the paperwork over.”

Either way, the not-so-happy accident resulted in at least a partial resolution — in that it was caught in time to take whatever corrective action would best address the omissions — as well as the assurance that both candidates will at any rate have an equal chance at vying for the position.

“Peru Township brought me in way more information than I needed, and I happened to see it,” Carretto told the publication.

Weberski was elected to the office of Peru Township Clerk in 2013, according to the township’s website. He has been a lifetime Illinois Valley dweller and a Peru resident for 25 years.

“It was missed by everyone in Peru Township, to put it bluntly,” he told the NewsTribune.

Since the administrative oversight was discovered and corrected to the best of the municipality’s ability, both candidates have now filed the correct forms, the NewsTribune stated.

Peru’s current assessor, Democrat Doug Biederstedt, is vying for a position as the township’s supervisor, leaving the slot open for candidates Hintz and Koyak.

This election cycle features a full slate of contested incumbencies in Peru, according to the NewsTribune — including the positions of supervisor, trustee, road commissioner, trustee and clerk as well as assessor.

The office of township assessor is an important one anywhere, but in Peru, and Illinois, it also stands out as the only elected position with legal pre-election requirements, according to the township’s website: any candidate who fills the office must obtain instructional certification or fulfill similar state requirements, depending on the size of the jurisdiction.

Additionally, the assessor acts as an appraiser for new construction and existing property, ensuring uniformity of valuation.

“The assessor's responsibilities include mass appraisal of all taxable property within the township or a multi-township assessment district,” officials stated via the jurisdiction’s website.

Although the position involves apportioning tax amounts between schools, park districts, municipalities, counties and townships, the Peru Township assessor does not actually impose or collect the taxes.