Rantoul could see city officials swap jobs

By JENALEA MYERS, Herald Staff Writer

RANTOUL — The mayor and a council member likely will switch places in the Rantoul City Council election.

Mayor Don Covington and incumbents Pat Hutchinson, Ron Parks and Blanka Bellinger are running for council seats, while the fifth open spot will be a write-in winner. Council member Sean Lickteig will run uncontested for mayor.

Sean Lickteig

Lickteig said he and Covington had discussed the possibility of him running for mayor.

“He said he had been mayor long enough,” Lickteig said of Covington, Rantoul’s mayor for the last eight years.

A construction worker, Lickteig has been on the council for two years.

“Not too much really goes on in town,” he said.

One issue the council might address is a stray dog problem in town, he said.

Lickteig is a 12-year resident of Rantoul.

Don Covington

With eight years experience as mayor, Covington said he’s ready to be a council member.

“I feel like even if I wanted to run, I needed to step down,” he said.

Covington is a 15-year resident of Rantoul.

“I got on the council about a month or two after moving here,” he said.

Streets and sewers will be issues facing Rantoul in the coming years, he said.

“We’re trying to work on our sewers and get them updated,” Covington, who is retired, said. “The siren also needs to be updated.”

Pat Hutchinson

Hutchinson has served non-consecutive terms totaling 11 years on the council.

“We’re pretty open with people and keep them informed on the things we have to do,” she said.

Hutchinson, who is retired, also said sewers were a top issue for Rantoul.

“We’ll have to add another sewer pond,” she said. “We have to take it slow and easy financially, though.”

Hutchinson, a longtime resident of the community, said Rantoul’s finances, like many cities, are limited.

“We’re a small community,” she said. “Water and sewer are our only income.”

Ron Parks

Parks is a new face to the council, though he’s served before.

He joined about two or three months ago to fill an unexpired term after serving about five years in the late 1990s.

“We’re facing a slight delay with our sewer system,” he said. “We’re going to be doing something about a third pond.”

But, improvements require funding, he said.

“We’re a very poor little town,” he said. “We don’t have the monies and have to figure out some way to get them.”

Parks, a truck driver for Wonder Bread, has lived in Rantoul for more than 25 years.

Blanka Bellinger

Bellinger has served at least four years on the council.

She works for the Johnson County Airport Commission.

Jenalea Myers can be e-mailed at jmyers@ottawaherald.com.