Quinlan Announces Bid for Third Village Clerk Term

Continuing her campaign theme from —‘Sentimental Journey’—lifelong Oak Lawn resident and popular village clerk Jane Quinlan announced her reelection bid for a third term in 2013.

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Introduced by friend and campaign manager Jimmy Richards, Quinlan was lauded for being a loyal friend and dedicated public servant.

“Like everyone else in this room I’m just very simply a friend of Jane Quinlan’s,” Richards told an SRO audience at on Wednesday. “Jane is the same person that we all know and that I know today as she was eight years ago when I first met her.”

Quinlan’s first order of business was to seek the owner of a lost pair of eyeglasses that a man came up and claimed.

“In my personal life I’ve always tried to surround myself with people who were loyal and trusting,” Quinlan told a cheering crowd of neighbors, family and friends. “I succeeded in doing that but to add to all the friends I’ve met in the last seven years is truly a bonus.”

Announcing that she was running as an independent for her third term as village clerk, Quinlan, has distanced herself from the often-fractious village board meetings on the Tuesday night dais.

“So many people have asked me why I'm running as an independent,” she said. “Because after serving as village clerk for the past seven years I believe it’s in the best interests of the that this might bring a positive spit to Oak Lawn politics."

Quinlan thanked her fellow village and city clerks—including those from Evergreen Park, Hickory Hills, Chicago Ridge, Justice, Palos Heights, Worth, Berwyn, Burbank and a retired city clerk from Dawson Springs, KY—for coming to her campaign launch on three-days’ notice.

Watch the video of Quinlan's announcement.

She also expressed her gratitude to Oak Lawn's rank and file village employees because "nobody can do the clerk's job alone."

Oak Lawn Trustees Bob Streit (Dist. 3) and Tom Duhig (Dist. 4) were the only village board members in attendance and arrived after Quinlan started her speech.

Village Manager Larry Deetjen, Oak Lawn Police Chief Bill Villanova, Joanne and Jim Buschbach, and Dr. Sandra Bury also turned out for the Wednesday campaign launch.

Quinlan is Oak Lawn’s first registered and certified village clerk, and is currently working toward become a master municipal clerk. In September, she will begin a term as vice president of the Southwestern Illinois Municipal Clerks Association, representing 75 municipalities.

Afterward, Quinlan said she chose the song “Sentimental Journey” because she has lived her whole life in Oak Lawn.

“When I first decided to run in 2004, I thought of all my days in the village of Oak Lawn,” she said. “I thought I would continue my ‘Sentimental Journey.’”

Quinlan was amazed by the turnout, which she claimed drew supporters from the village’s six districts.

“We had almost 400 people with just three days of making phone calls—more than the Unity Party ever had,” Quinlan said. “We couldn't get 150 people to our Unity Party fundraisers.”

Richards said the numbers were working in Quinlan's favor. Running for her first term as village clerk in 2005, Quinlan received 6,774 votes; in 2009, she garnered 8,020 votes village-wide—more than the 7,969 votes Mayor Dave Heilmann received for his second mayoral term.

“I would call that moving the football up the field as she’s going through her career,” he said.

Heilmann is holding his own coming-out party Friday night at the where he is expected to formally announce his re-election bid for a third term as mayor in the 2013 consolidated election.

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