Not a blizzard of votes -- or a mandate

Jane Byrne had the blizzard.

            Harold Washington had his coalition.

            Beverly Sussman had the downtown proposal.

            Last month’s election results, while surprising to many, should not come as a surprise.

            Elections, whether urban or suburban, are often fueled by emotion as opposed to civic interest and responsibility.

            Suburban elections typically do not fuel a lot of interest – the numbers bear that out.  Tuesday’s Lake County turnout was 11.25% while Cook County officials speculate, according to media reports, that the turnout in suburban Cook County was barely 14%.

            In Buffalo Grove, the turnout in the Cook County precincts was 13.55 percent while the turnout in the Lake County portion of the village was above the county average with a turnout around 13.89 percent compared to a woeful 11.36 percent county wide.

            The reality is this:  Sussman and others like her who were elected or even re-elected during the April 7 elections, did not receive a mandate.

            This is not an indictment of the backgrounds of those who sought public office, but more of one for residents who seek to shirk their civic responsibility.  It seems as though local voters take the attitude is if “I don’t have a complaint, why get involved?”

            What happens then is a handful of folks who take an interest in their municipality or school board pretty much call the shot when it comes to selecting governing officials especially if there’s an issue or situation that generates considerable media coverage or impacts a specific neighborhood.

            Like a blizzard, a coalition – or a proposed shopping center.

            It’s sort of a good news / bad news scenario. 

            The good news is that the civic process works – sort of.   The ‘bad news’ is that it’s a selective process.  The troops like to be rallied when it’s a matter that is near-and-dear to them. 

            But what about the rest of the time?

            Civic involvement should, ideally, encompass the entire village and not just a specific area when an issue arises.  Quick glances at the voting trends from the April election yield just that.

            Sussman and the “Save Buffalo Grove” slate carried the areas that had proximity to the site of the proposed downtown development.  A look at the rest of the results indicates just the opposite as incumbent Village President Jeff Braiman garnered more votes than Sussman.

            Did the process work?

            Again, to some degree it did because voters who were passionate about an issue got the vote out.  But for whom?  For candidates who they thought would serve them well.

            Sussman has been on the Village Board for six years and Adam Moodhe is a regular attendee at Village Board meetings for years.  Dan Peterson and David Weidenfeld were both newcomers to the village politics and had it not been for the proposed downtown edifice, odds are they would not have run.

            When asked, people were hard-pressed to tell you why to vote.  One person told me Weidenfeld was a good candidate because “he’s a nice guy and a member of our havarah.”  Great; that will be help the next time the Village Board wants to hold hands, do a group hug and sing Kumbyah.  Not a pretty picture.

                This doesn’t mean he’s not qualified, but if you want me to vote for someone, tell me more than what he does with his social life.  Weidenfeld, who won a seat on the Board, has extensive background with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s office, so he is familiar with local and regional governments.

            Beyond that, however, there was not a lot of information available.

            Why?  Several reasons.

            Outside of aggressive social media campaigns by Steve Trilling, Jeff Berman and to a lesser extent Jeff Braiman, information about all of the candidates was limited to a plethora of signs that provided little, if any reason for voting any of them.

            This is why social media has become a key component.  Granted, information was available, but to varying degrees.  As is the case with paid advertising, social media posts are loaded with bias.  At least it was an effort to reach a broad base of constituents.

            If voters are to make decisions -- let’s make that intelligent decisions -- they need to be more civic minded and informed news consumers. This, of course, presents a new challenge – where can news consumers go to get that sort of information.

            The main media outlets that cover the village are the Daily Herald, the Countryside Reminder and the Journal Topics. Most of the coverage focuses on events, municipal meetings, pointless features or soccer mommies promoting friends. The lack of in-depth or watchdog coverage is not due to a lack of money or the misnomer that journalism is dead.  The Pew Center for research finds that it can be a mixture of things.

            Interestingly enough, Pew reports that the higher level of education, the less likely is someone may follow local news.  However, the more educated a resident is, the more likely he/she will digitally share local news. When it comes to the use of social media, local residents, especially those 18-34, have a higher rate of usage for local information than those over 50.  (The full report can be found at: Pew Center for Research: How Demographics Play Into Local News Habits)

None of this should be a surprise, but it does raise a question – what’s the best way to get information to residents so they can become civically engaged?

            Or perhaps a better question – why don’t more people care?

            As mentioned, April’s election had six candidates; three incumbents and three wanna-bes.  Aside from a candidates’ forum sponsored by Stevenson High School and the Buffalo Grove – Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce, forums, if you want to call them that, were limited to gatherings at local residents.

            There was a time when the League of Women Voters would sponsor forums.  Now, however, the only chapters near Buffalo Grove are in Highland Park, Glenview and Lake Forest.  When it comes to local civic activity, aside from the longstanding and stellar Civics Forum coordinated by Village Clerk Jan Sirabian, there’s not much happening around here.

            Civic activity?  Civic responsibility?  The lack of both may be partly behind an effort by the Illinois State Board of Education’s task force on Civic Education to pursue a required civics education class.

            So what’s next? Interestingly enough, with Sussman now Board President, there’s a trustee opening that has attracted nine residents.  They include Kurt Baier, Robert Giddens, John Green, Joanne Johnson, Bruce Kahn, Adam Moodhe, Edward Osmon, Frank Sears, and Eric Smith.           

            Some names are familiar to Village Board meeting regulars, while some are either new or want to try village service once again.

            No matter who they are, questions remain.

            Who are they and why are they running? Do they have unique qualifications?  Do they have a personal agenda? Were some asked to run by the remnants of the Save Buffalo Grove group?

            Whatever the reasons the information needs to get out. I am pursuing information about each candidate via the Freedom of Information Act as the village is reluctant to release full applications without redacting “personal information”.

            No matter what the reasons, a few things are certain.

            The blizzard is over.

            The downtown proposal is dead.

            What’s at issue here is the need for an informed citizenry to know not only how government works, but who is involved.

            And perhaps get involved beyond Election Day.