Few surprises in LaSalle County voting

Few surprises in LaSalle County, where Ottawa Mayor Bob Eschbach was re-elected with 91 percent of the vote.

All incumbents retained their Ottawa City Council seats as Daniel Aussem, Dale Baxter, Wayne Eichelkraut and Ed Whitney out-distanced challenger James Less.  Winners for Ottawa High School Board are Karen Fisher, Anita Kopko and Bill Byczynski.

Peru aldermen Rodney Perez, Dave Potthoff, and Dave Waldorf held off challenges but incumbent Jamey Mertel was ousted by Mike Radtke.

Spots on the LaSalle City Council were won by John Duncan, Joe Edgcomb and Mark Schneider.

In the Oglesby Commissioners race, newcomer and top vote-getter Dominic Rivara was joined by Paul Danekas, Tom Porter and Dennis Yborra.  On the Utica Village Board, winners are Shelba Bimm, Matthew Jereb and James Schrader.

Among the referendums in LaSalle County, Earlville school district voters narrowly approved raising the district tax rate from $2.60 to $4 per $100 assessed valuation and voters in Naplate approved reducing the number of village trustees from 5 to 4.

Voter turnout in LaSalle County was 21 percent.