McCarthy, Milovich-Walters Battle For Palos Park Mayor: Election 2023

PALOS PARK, IL — The word “wild” is not typically used to describe Palos Park, but ever since Mayor John Mahoney announced that he would not be seeking a fifth term, it seems to have thrown off the village’s equilibrium.

The 2023 mayoral race pits political newbie Ronette Leal McCarthy against Nicole Milovich-Walters, who has served 16 years as a village commissioner. In what some have described as a “battle for the heart and soul of Palos Park,” the mayoral race has reached unprecedented levels of nastiness, at least according to residents who’ve lived in the village for a while.

Much of the contention seems centered around the Wu’s House parking expansion plan at 123rd Street and LaGrange Road, on the site of the former Hackney’s. The plan included the removal of trees on the restaurant’s property. After two appearances before the Palos Park Plan Commission, the final Wu’s parking plan, with modifications, was approved by the full Palos Park Village Council during a raucous meeting on Feb. 27. A village commissioner, Darryl Reed, could be heard telling the audience on a widely circulated and watched video of the meeting to “shut the hell up.” Both sides have released similarly redacted videos of the meeting.

Except for the mayoral race, Palos Park’s village council races are uncontested. Rebecca Petan is running for Milovich-Walters’ seat on the council, in addition to Michael Wade, Daniel Polk and C. Darryl Reed.

Milovich-Walters is an attorney, with a family law practice that she runs with her attorney husband, Todd Walters. She also owns a pre-employment screening agency. She was first appointed in 2003 to serve on the Palos Park Recreation Advisory Board. In 2007, she was appointed to fill a vacancy on the village council as the commissioner of public works and recreation, and was elected in the 2009 midterm. She’s been sitting on the village council ever since.

If elected mayor, Milovich-Walters says her main areas of focus for the town of 5,000 will be public safety, continued financial stewardship of the residents’ tax dollars, supporting the village’s senior population and inclusion of new residents.

“I would continue the Senior Club that is run by our very own village clerk, Marie Arrigoni, but with greater village support,” Milovich-Walters said in her Patch candidate questionnaire. “The Senior Club had grown so much … It now deserves and requires greater Village support. Additionally, I recently attended a legislative breakfast on aging. It is critical we make our residents aware of the services offered by Pathlights and AgeOptions, wonderful organizations that provide support staff, meals and much more.”

She differentiates herself from McCarthy by her 20 years’ of involvement working on village boards, her “institutional knowledge” and “demonstrated leadership.”

Under Mahoney’s leadership, Milovich-Walters claims the village council has been able to increase the village’s reserves to more than 50 percent of its fund balance, when based on GFPA standards, the village only requires 25 percent.

“We have been able to increase investments in road and drainage projects,” Milovich-Walters stated.

McCarthy is also an attorney who touts her experience in municipal law while employed by Ancel Glink, and is endorsed by one of the law firm's equity partners. She counts safety, collaboration and exploring additional avenues to generate new funds for the village.

“As we’ve canvassed, we heard over and over that residents do not feel they have a voice in their own Village Government,” McCarthy stated in her candidate questionnaire. “They have heavy concerns about their safety; they have heartfelt worry about the reckless destruction of the trees throughout the village.”

McCarthy describes herself as a conservative, evidenced by a 4-page newspaper – “The Palos Park Conservative” – that hit residents’ mailboxes this weekend, and especially targets the village’s older residents. McCarthy touts an endorsement by the Illinois Crime Commission (not to be confused with the Illinois State Crime Commission), an organization that dissolved involuntarily in 1997, then incorporated last year “with the goal to make Illinois a safer place.” McCarthy and Chicago mayoral candidate Paul Vallas are the organization’s only political endorsements.

McCarthy outlines her plans in the Palos Park Conservative to introduce term limits for local elected officials and install a permanent drop-off site for unused and expired prescription drugs at the Kaptur Administration Building (there already is a permanent drop-off site there), hold monthly senior property tax seminars, and improve intergovernmental relations. The tabloid refers to Mahoney and Milovich-Walters as “career politicians.”

“That $100 a month I’ve received for serving on the village council has been fantastic for my career,” Milovich-Walters told Patch. “We never thought of this as politics, we’re public servants. This is not your job, it’s meant to be public service. I had to ask ten people before a found a person to sit voluntarily on the board. Many of us would have been happy to step down if there was someone interested in running. We don’t get pensions. In a perfect world, [terms limits] sounds like a great idea. We’re a village of 5,000. Finding people willing to serve is challenging.”

The Palos Park mayoral race has also had its share of bad social media behavior. McCarthy says she was hurt and offended by a meme showing her head on a clown’s body riding a unicycle, which she claims was posted by Milovich-Walters’ husband, Todd Walters, on his Facebook page.

Todd Walters told Patch that his Facebook account was hacked. He removed the image immediately and publicly apologized to McCarthy.

McCarthy claims she’s also been depicted as a “donut” which she says is the equivalent of being called an “imbecile” and “body-shaming,” and subjected to other denigrating remarks from her opponent’s husband and supporters.

“It’s incredibly embarrassing that we have adults in this community reflecting on their thoughts that refuse to stand up for residents,” said McCarthy, who stated in the Palos Park Conservative that she will fight misogyny and “protect all women, your daughters, your mothers, your sisters, your grandmothers, your aunts, your sons, and the Village. You have my pledge. I will not back down.”

Milovich-Walters said she has also been subjected to diatribes from her opponent and her supporters, alleging that she is a “thief” and “takes bribes.”

“If [McCarthy] wants to play victim, let her make me a victim too,” Milovich-Walters said. “On her Instagram, [one of her supporters] said that my kid was soliciting sugar daddies on Instagram to pay for her mother’s campaign. She didn’t take it down. My daughter was responding to a comment by a person who used the n-word to describe Darryl Reed. Those posts were up for three weeks.”

“I’ve been honest and straightforward,” Milovich-Walters added. “My mother was featured on magazine covers for working women. I grew up with a strong sense of female empowerment.”

The 2023 consolidated election is Tuesday, April 4. More storms and severe weather are possible later in the day, so you may want to head out early. As of Sunday, 798 people from the Palos area have voted early at the Palos Heights Rec Center. You can find your ballot and polling place on the Cook County Clerk website.