Journal & Topics Media Group

Prospect Heights Mayoral Candidates: Where They Stand


Nick Helmer (left) and Larry Rosenthal (right)

Mayor Nicholas Helmer announced in late August 2018 his intentions to run for a third and final term in the city’s top elected post. Six weeks later, Larry Rosenthal, alderman of the city council’s 2nd ward, announced he would also be running for mayor.

No other mayoral candidates stepped forward by the December filing deadline, so it became official: voters would decide whether Helmer or Rosenthal should lead the city over the next four years.

Election Day awaits on Tuesday, April 2, but early voting is underway across the area.

Prospect Heights Election Questionnaire: Nick Helmer

Prospect Heights Election Questionnaire: Larry Rosenthal

The two candidates have run tame campaigns without much public mudslinging. Helmer, 76, says it will be his last term as mayor if elected. Rosenthal, 80, is finishing his first term as alderman.

Top issues in the race have come down to providing guidance on flooding and drainage projects across the city, and how to generate new revenue for Prospect Heights — a community that does not collect a general citywide property tax.

Helmer touts solvency in the city’s finances as coming to fruition during his eight years as mayor. He has stated that he wants to continue his efforts to improve the city’s bottom line while maintaining quality city services and upholding a positive community image.

Rosenthal wants to improve transparency between city government and residents by encouraging more of a “team approach” to decision making. He says he wants those key decisions to be a better reflection of the community’s wants and needs. Recently, Rosenthal called for creation of the Ad Hoc Willow Road Committee that’s designed to address local residents’ wants and needs related to a proposed flood control project along Willow Road in the Hillcrest Lake area.

“The city needs to be more involved, transparent, respectful and to truly listen to the diverse residents we have,” Rosenthal said in a Journal & Topics election questionnaire.

In his questionnaire, Helmer says transparency has been maintained through various means, including the city’s weekly “e-news”, quarterly newsletters, bi-monthly meetings and community events.

Helmer is a longtime employee of Oak Brook-based Inland Real Estate Group. Before running for mayor, he served 14 years on the Chicago Executive Airport Board. He immigrated to America from Europe at the age of 10. He is a longtime pilot of single-engine airplanes at Chicago Executive Airport, and coached boys basketball at St. Viator High School for 35 years.

Rosenthal retired as association executive of a large surgical organization with a $35 million budget and staff of 235. He works as a consultant for numerous professional and trade associations. He has been a Prospect Heights resident for 27 years and received 73% of the vote in his first run for city council in April 2015.

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