South Cook News

Incumbent Blue Island Mayor Domingo Vargas was trounced in his reelection bid, registering just 11% of the vote to finish a distant third behind 2nd Ward Ald. Fred Bilotto.

According to the Chicago Tribune, unofficial projections based on 10 of 113 precincts reporting pegged Bilotto, head of the United Blue Island ticket, with 52% of the vote. City clerk Randy Heuser was projected to finish second with somewhere in the neighborhood of 37% of the vote.

First elected in 2013 after serving as a 7th Ward alderman, Vargas was running as an independent and had pledged to fix long-neglected streets.

Just over a year ago, voters approved two advisory referendums weighing if the city should create a dedicated fund for street improvements and invest the roughly $45,000 saved by the proposed reduction of aldermen to fund the project.

More recently, Vargas had come under heavy criticism and was stripped of some of his power by aldermen after he moved to shut down the city's police department after an officer tested positive for the coronavirus. After returning to duty, aldermen voted during a special City Council meeting to have the city’s fire and police chiefs be responsible for coordinating the city’s response in an emergency.

A government and civic teacher at Thornwood High in South Holland who was born in Blue Island, Bilotto has been an alderman since 2014 and serves as chairman of the city council’s community development committee.