Round Lake Park’s incumbent Mayor Linda Lucassen was defeated this month by about 45 points, with incoming Mayor Robert Seminary partially attributing his win to controversy over the village’s building inspector who is Lucassen’s son.
Seminary, who has lived in the village for decades and served as a village trustee from 2004 to 2013, said he had originally planned to run for a trustee position on Lucassen’s ticket, but a disagreement over the building inspector led him to run against her for mayor with his own slate.
“I removed myself from her ticket so I wouldn’t fight her in the boardroom,” Seminary said.
He accused Linda Lucassen of nepotism for refusing to remove her son after complaints from village residents that Todd Lucassen, the building inspector, was layering additional fees on regular home inspections.
“Some people can afford it,” Seminary said. “But you come into town here, and these people are on welfare, they’re retired and they can’t afford to do all that stuff.”
Seminary said he plans to remove Todd Lucassen after he’s sworn in next month.
“All she had to do was either control her son or fire him, and she would have won,” Seminary said. “She’s well-known in the village. But people are fed up. They don’t have money to spend uselessly.”
Linda Lucassen denied the accusations, arguing the public “was not properly informed” about the situation, and that Todd Lucassen had “rescued the village” after their previous building inspector left due to health issues.
“The board approved (his hiring),” she said. “He had past experience with other municipalities. It’s not easy to find a building inspector with experience. Todd has done an outstanding job. Our property values have increased.”
Although Todd Lucassen is listed on the village’s website as the building and zoning commissioner, Linda Lucassen said that was not accurate. Both she and Seminary described him as the building inspector. Linda Lucassen said the position is not his full-time job.
It was an unusual race by Seminary’s own admission, with the candidates voicing support for their seeming opposition. Seminary was complimentary of the trustees who had run as Lucassen’s slate. While campaigning, Seminary said the “main thing” was that residents “just want to be heard.”
“The more we talked, the more people were attending the meet-and-greets,” he said. “They were just fed up with everything. They talked to the mayor, but nothing was being done. They want to be heard. They feel the current mayor isn’t reaching out to them, or doing anything for them, and then I sit there and I talk to them.”
Seminary said people should expect “a lot of change” when he and his slate come into office, as well as more communication from the board.
Lucassen looks back
Linda Lucassen said she’s lived in the Round Lake Park area since the late 1970s. She’s been part of village government for nearly 30 years, and said she wishes Seminary “nothing but the best.” She is looking forward to enjoying retirement and spending time with family.
Lucassen said she began as a village clerk in 1997, a position she held until 2011, after which she became a trustee, then mayor in 2013. She highlighted leaving the village with a “positive cash flow” and limited bills.
She also talked about the various grants she had worked to bring to the village, and the “significant improvements” made to Main Street, including new street lighting, a facade program to update storefronts and “bringing in new businesses and vitality to our community.”
While Lucassen said she does not have any specific future political plans, she said she wants to “leave the door open.” Regardless, she plans to continue to serve the community, “in whatever capacity that might come up.”
“I hope we continue to grow in the village of Round Lake Park,” Lucassen said. “That’s what I’ve always strived for, and I worked hard to do.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/04/23/round-lake-park-mayor/