Orland Park voters appear to want the village board to stay consistent as two incumbents will continue as board trustees along with one newcomer.

The Orland Park United slate, comprised of incumbents Edward Schussler and Patricia Gira as well as newcomer Carole Ruzich, garnered the most votes, with 56 of 58 village precincts reporting as of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. The three grabbed a combined 40.17 percent of votes in Cook County precincts that reported Tuesday night, and 77.12 percent of the one Will County precinct.

Voting totals will not be made official until later in April, with absentee ballots still to be added, and opponents said a call for recount is not out of the question.

Schussler said the campaign left him “kind of nervous,” receiving little feedback from potential voters while knocking on doors. The overall low turnout pointed out by polling judges throughout the day, many of whom who said less than 10 percent of registered voters cast a ballot, was also confounding, he said.

“I’m not sure why a lot of other people didn’t come to the polls,” Schussler said. The only thing I can think of is they must be satisfied with what’s happening and didn’t think of anything that needed changing.”

Now with the election passed, Schussler said he will be focused on street widening projects, including LaGrange Road and 143^rd Street, as well as working toward a settlement in the ongoing Main Street Triangle litigation.

“People want to see action over there, so I think the push will be to get the litigation settled rather than let it go to trial,” he said. “If it goes to trial it could be another two years before completion, but a settlement could have it wrapped in 30 days.”

Schussler also said the village is finalizing plans with a developer for the area.

The Fiscal Voices of Orland slate, comprised of Orland District 135 board vice president John Brudnak, Steven Williams and Molly McAvoy Flynn held the next three highest votes as of Tuesday night, with a combined 31.63 percent from 56 of the 58 Cook County precincts and 15.56 percent from the one Will County precinct.

Brudnak said a recount is not out of the question. He blamed independent candidates Tom Cunningham, John Fotopoulos and Rich Kelly for diverting votes away from Fiscal Voices.

"There's no question they took votes away," he said from Sam McGuire's Pub by phone. "There were too many parties against the incumbents. One or two independents not in the race and we might have won one or two of the seats."

Tom Cunningham trailed Brudnak by 177 votes.

"We were hairs apart from one another," he responded from Fox's Restaurant and Pub, also by phone. "Is that what you call 'taking votes away?' It's sour grapes...He's disappointed. I'm in the driver's seat. I'm still on the (District 135) school board. I have three years to go."

Cunningham said he's proud of having run a "fair and honest" campaign on a "shoestring budget."

"I'm the real deal," he said. "They can say all they want, but when it comes down to it I give people the right track, and that is: Can we just do the right thing. I've been on the (District 135) school board for six years and my record speaks for itself."

Flynn had the highest votes out of the FVO three with 2,039 between Cook and Will votes, while Ruzich had the lowest votes out of OPU with 2,255 Cook and Will votes. Both numbers were reported as of midnight Wednesday.

"They better not be having their chest out too far for this one," Brudnak said about the difference in votes between the two slates. "It was a matter of too many candidates."

Brudnak also took aim at OPU's voters, saying "you can't account for intelligence," and then at those residents who stayed home.

"The people of Orland Park will have no reason to complain with regards to the (Main Street) Triangle and taxes," he said. "They can’t blame the weather. It's a shame.

"There's no excuse," he later added. "People complain, people talk all about, 'Oh, my taxes,' or this or that. Where were they? It's unacceptable. People who want to come out and complain from now on should have to show their voter receipt."

Turnout throughout Cook County was about 16 percent. In Will County, turnout was 18.8 percent. If Brudnak was dissatisfied by the poor turnout, Cunningham said, he "should have been a leader and gotten people together."

Calls to Fotopoulos and Kelly were not returned Tuesday night.

The race for Orland Park Village Board started with a focus on issues, yet turned to character call outs and sign chicanery toward the end.

New candidates called on the village to stop putting money into the litigation surrounding the Main Street Triangle project and work out a way to incorporate the Orland Plaza businesses into the plans. The incumbents defended keeping the triangle of land between 143rd Street, LaGrange Road and the SouthWest Service Metra line in a Tax Increment Finance district despite not yet developing the land.

Fiscal Voices of Orland Candidate Steven Williams chastised the village for using eminent domain to acquire land, though a Cook County judge ruled in favor of the village doing as such in 2010. Incumbent and Orland Park United candidate Patricia Gira defended the plan to build a walkable city center on an area she described as “blighted,” even though efforts to build up the area has yet to begin.

Beyond thoughts on the Triangle, the Orland Park Village Board race, as well as the others, came down to money and how best to spend it. Independent candidate John Fotopoulos proposed setting a time to eliminate vehicle sticker price increases, while also shutting down village hall around holiday weekends when visits are lower. Edward Schussler reminded voters that the village reduced its workforce by 10 percent over the last three years.  John Brudnak insisted that further cuts be made to village staff, while Rich Kelly disagreed with the village sticker increases.

Carole Ruzich and Molly McAvoy Flynn echoed their counterparts on Orland Park United and Fiscal Voices of Orland, respectively.