OFFICIAL MAY STAY ON BALLOT IN JOLIET

An attempt to remove a Joliet city councilman from the April election ballot
because he was convicted of a drug charge in Texas 22 years ago was rebuffed
Thursday by the Joliet Electoral Board.

David Gorman, a Joliet businessman who is seeking to unseat City Councilman
Alex Ledesma for the council seat from Joliet's heavily Hispanic 4th
District, had petitioned the board to remove Ledesma from the April 13
ballot. Gorman cited a state law that bars a person from holding municipal
office if he has been convicted of a felony by any court in the nation.

However, the Electoral Board, made up of Joliet Mayor Arthur Schultz, City
Clerk Nancy Vallera and City Councilman Robert Hacker, denied the petition
on the grounds that the state law was declared unconstitutional in a 1980
Illinois Appellate Court decision.

The Appellate Court for the 2nd District in Elgin had ruled that the law
violated the Constitution's equal protection clause because it set different
standards of eligibility for local offices created by the legislature than
for the governor's office created by the state constitution.

Gorman has 10 days to decide whether to appeal the Electoral Board's
decision in Will County Circuit Court.

Ledesma said he was "ecstatic" after the Electoral Board's ruling.

"Now the people can decide whether or not I've done a good job. That's the
way it should be," he said.

Ledesma characterized Gorman's attempt to remove his name from the ballot as
"bad politics."

Ledesma, 54, was sentenced to 60 days in jail and was placed on four years
of probation in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1977 after being found guilty of
federal charges of possession and intent to deliver marijuana.