A crowded ballot?

 As I pulled into the Village Hall for the Jan. 3 meeting, I could not help but notice the number of cars in the lot.

My first thought was that there must be some big issue brewing and the masses were getting ready to voice their malcontent with the Village Board.

What I found were members of Cub Scout Troop 36 from School Dist. 102 and not a lot more.  What I heard following the pledge (nice job guys..) was a lot of discussion about the height of fences from 5 to 6 feet.

I was a surprised, albeit a bit, because I had heard at previous meetings about the amount of displeasure with the Village Board by residents.  With this much dissension, surely there would be a heated election this come May.

There isn’t.  Only one race for village trustee, that for a two-year term, is contested with Andrew  Stein facing Denise Bocek. The other contested race is that for Village Clerk where incumbent Jan Sirabian is being challenged by Rob Sherman.  Jeff Braiman is unopposed in his bid to be village president.

That’s it. Eight candidates for six spots

So if there is that much upheaval among the residents, why aren’t more running?

Like ‘em or not, the residents who serve on the Village Board do so out of dedication.  As I’ve said before, they’re not perfect – nothing is – but it is a thankless task.  As noted before, the village staff has been excellent and responsive to the needs of residents and business owners.  Again, nothing is perfect.

While we heard about the numbers of residents who are dissatisfied we haven’t see an outpouring of people who want to storm the Bastille because the village was going to Hell in a handbag.   We’ve seen special interests represented, but everyone has their specific bug or bias.

But when push comes to shove, so to speak, there was very little of either.  A village of  more than nearly 50,000  residents and there are eight candidates.

It’s either a case of everyone being content, or no one caring -- with the exception of eight people.

So with the dust seemingly settled and the focus on village business and not special interest being discussed, it appears that when all is said and done – things in Big Animal Grove are just fine – not perfect – but a long way from the brink of disaster.