Is his transparency going to pot?

            Much has been written, to no surprise, about the use of social media by politicians – especially President Trump who clings to it like a cheap suit.

            Not only has it has changed the landscape of politics, but also the need for transparency by public officials.  It has also raised the level of curiosity by constituents who want to know what their government officials are doing and why.

  

Village Trustee Andrew Stein

(Photo from Facebook)

          However, it is not just a national or statewide issue. Local politicos need to adhere to a high level of transparency as well, especially when posting on social media.

            This includes Buffalo Grove officials.

            Whether on the Park Board, Planning and Zoning Commission or the Village Board, public officials need to be as open as possible.

            Which is why a post by Village Board trustee Andrew Stein on Dec. 15 raised some questions. Stein’s post included a link from the Illinois Policy Institute that “Poll Shows ‘Large Majorities’ Of Illinois Voters Support Legalizing Marijuana” (Marijuana poll). Stein queried Facebook users by asking them “What do you think of this?”

            There were 10 comments, including one I made asking, “Are you proposing this for the village?” to which Stein replied, “I am curious where others stand.”

            Was that really the case? I initially shrugged it off until I got a call from Stein, during which he further reiterated that he was just interested in the possibility of recreational use of marijuana being legal in Illinois. I had no intention of writing about Stein’s post because at first, because it just seemed inane.

            But I began thinking, which is always a dangerous thing, and I could not help but wonder why Stein was interested in what people thought of legal recreational marijuana in Illinois.

The thought stayed with me until recently when I decided to see if, in fact, there was more to Stein’s concern about recreational use of marijuana than a fleeting comment on Facebook.

            There was, and, still may be. 

             Information I obtained through a request filed in accordance with the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, yielded that Stein had more than a fleeting interest in the issue.

For Stein to state on social media that he was just curious as to where others stood appears to be a misrepresentation of his intent.

Stein’s interest is based in the introduction last year of Illinois House Bill 2353, the cannabis control act.  An amendment would, apparently, allow recreation use of marijuana.

Stein began pushing for the village to take the lead in local regulation of recreational marijuana in early October.

In an email sent to Village Manager Dane Bragg and Board President Beverly Sussman, on Oct. 25, Stein wrote, “Time may of the essence on this. I would like to discuss an ordinance to ban the sale and cultivation of Recreational Marijuana in Buffalo Grove. It would be great to have something on the books before legislation makes its way through the State.”

Why was “time of the essence”?  Apparently because at that time the two bills, HB 2353 and SB 316, were on the docket in Springfield and would address legal recreational use of marijuana in the state.

Bragg responded to Stein on Oct. 27, telling him that according to the Northwest Municipal Conference, as well as the Illinois Chiefs Association via Buffalo Grove Police Chief Steve Casstevens, the bills was pushed aside until after the first of the year.

Stein, however persisted, and in an email sent to Bragg, Sussman, Casstevens and Deputy Village Manager Jennifer Maltas, on Nov. 3 wrote “I have been thinking about this and was wondering, does Buffalo Grove wish to be a leader in this and pass an ordinance prohibiting the sale and distribution before the Bill moves? We could be the first and others could follow our lead in telling the State that this is a bad idea? I think that it is worth the discussion. Does anyone agree with me?”

Bragg quickly responded that “Seeing as the bill isn’t going anywhere, I think it is a distraction right now. In addition, the bill as proposed preserves home rule authority to regulate how we want. This may be of more pertinent interest after the first of the year.”

Which, you would think would be the route to go. Stein, however, remains persistent. There’s nothing wrong with a Village Board member taking an initiative on a matter, as Stein has with the recreational marijuana issue, however, what is troubling is his lack of transparency with constituents.

Stein continued to plead his case into November when he once again emailed Bragg and Sussman simply saying “it may be closer than was thought.” His support was a voluminous report from the Stand Strong Coalition, a group which, as indicated on its website (standstrongcoalition.org) was, “formed August 1st, 2014 by concerned parents, Jamie Epstein and Debbie Stern. It is a community-based coalition dedicated to preventing underage drinking and drug use for the youth in our community.” The group lobbied the Board in August to raise the age for tobacco sales to 21, a measure which was approved.

The information Stein provided detailed scheduled public meetings featuring experts who apparently side with Stand Strong Coalition. The question that is not answered is if Stein attended those meetings and if he did, did he do so as a regular citizen, or member of the Village Board.  When I spoke with him in December, he made no mention of his idea for an ordinance or if he had attended or approached Stand Our Ground for support.

Instead, he turned to Facebook with an innocuous post casually asking people how they felt about recreational marijuana being legalized in the Land of Lincoln.

After receiving information from my FOI request, I contacted Stein by email and asked him about the two bills, to which he replied “…I was concerned that legislation to approve recreational marijuana was going to move soon. I am opposed to recreational marijuana. I was considering proposing a resolution by the Village opposing legislation, before it moved forward. When I saw the article that I posted on Facebook, I saw an opportunity to gauge sentiment. You asked me if I was proposing this for the Village and I told you that I was just curious where others stand.”

Got it.  At least he confirmed that he is opposed to recreational marijuana and that he was considering introducing a resolution to the Village Board opposing it.

Which raises more questions

The first being why didn’t he say that on his Facebook post and secondly, what exactly is he looking for – a resolution opposing the bill, or an ordinance prohibiting recreational marijuana in the village?

As noted in the Nov. 3 email, Stein asked Bragg, Sussman, Casstevens and Maltas, “does Buffalo Grove wish to be a leader in this and pass an ordinance prohibiting the sale and distribution before the Bill moves?”

I’m not passing judgment on Stein’s beliefs on recreational marijuana, just the scope of his transparency.

He needs to be transparent in what he’s looking for and an openness as to why.

Otherwise his transparency will go up in smoke.

No matter what’s being smoked.