An "old boy" calls it a day...

Now that the dust of the April 5 election has settled and the next administration is getting ready to make its mark on things, it seems as though a few things may have been overlooked.

When the new board begins its tenure on May 2, it will welcome Andy Stein and Mike Terson to the dais and Jeff Braiman will move to center stage as Elliott Hartstein bids adieu to his Village Board career.

DeAnn Glover

But there will be one more farewell to be said, that to another one of the "old boy network."  After 16 year on the Village Board, DeAnn Glover is leaving her spot on the dais.

It strikes me odd how cynics like to hang the OBN tag on the Board, and overlook the work women have done on the Village Board.  Let's not call Glover a "boy" and certainly don't call her "old".  She rolled up sleeves just like most Board members do and worked on an array of projects.  She was liaison to the Cable Committee, the Library Committee and The Buffalo Grove Days Committee, to name a few.

Old boy?  How about dedicated resident?  Being surrounded by a myriad of attorneys never seemed to intimidate Glover -- her passions have always been the budget, Buffalo Grove Days and the "Pink Heals" campaign.

A broker and manager for a real estate firm, she brought her corporate tenacity to the Board -- along with a strong, but well thought-out opinion.

There is an exceptional pride that radiates from Glover as well.  No doubt, a pride in the village and what various departments and volunteers have done.  There's also a sense of pride that beams from her when she discussed her family.

A native of Nebraska, Glover plans to spend more time with her children and grandchildren, especially those now living in Kansas,  during retirement.  In fact, it's likely that Glover will move to Kansas to be  closer to her son and daughter-in-law and their kids.

Will she miss her work on the Village Board?  Odds are she will -- you just don't walk away from 16 years of community service with a twinge of fondness.

As for moving to Kansas -- there's no doubt she'll enjoy the time with family. But if you're expecting her to become Auntie Em -- think again.  She's been through more twisters than Auntie Em -- and came through them all.

Even with the "old boys".

A lesson from center ice

I love sports.

I've played, watched, coached, covered everything from NFL training camps to women's ice hockey.

I've had the chance to meet the classiest of the classiest (Ray Meyer) and up and comers whose names I can't remember.

Through it all, one of the coolest things in sports is the meeting at center ice at the end of a playoff series in the National Hockey League when both teams line up at center ice to shake hands, a gesture that ends the competition.  Sure, there are times when it's terse, but at least both sides have the decency to end it on a generally friendly note.

Maybe it's time to do that for municipal elections.

Maybe it's time to tell Rob Sherman to grow up and show some class.

To say Sherman lost in his bid to become Village Clerk is an understatement. Jan Sirabian destroyed Sherman at the polls by gathering  90.05 percent of the vote in the Cook County side of the village.  He mustered 109 votes -- I have more Facebook friends than that.

In Lake County, Robbypoo picked up 21.10 percent of the vote to Sirabian's 78.90 percent.  Sherman received  687 votes, which is smaller than the graduating class at Stevenson High School.  Most people would have been gracious in defeat.  The keyword here is most.

But not Rob Sherman.  Instead, he continued his classless barrage of arrogant and sexist remarks as he continued to rip Sirabian.  Media reports, most written by folks considered to be "ace reporters", so we know they must be true, reported that Sherman saw his defeat as an mandate that people want Sirabian out.

Let's work this out.  Siabian gets 3,556 and Sherman gets  796.  Mandate? Where?  Sirabian receive more votes in Cook County (987) than Sherman's total.

So where's the mandate?  In Sherman's cranial cavity.

To no surprise, it's all about Sherman and his boorish ego.  It always was.  Sherman never had any interest in the Village Clerk's post, he just wanted to further boost his ego at the expense of a dedicated public servant and, more annoyingly, at taxpayer's expense.

To give you a classic example of Sherman's hypocrisy, he  told the Daily Herald that, if nothing else, “At least, I had the opportunity to put the fear of God into her.”


Huh?  Sherman -- I thought you were an atheist, or is that just another one of your PR ploys. This coming from a guy who allegedly sits down during the pledge of allegiance when it comes to "under God".   I guess when there's a media opp, all bets are off.


Sherman has also told media outlets that he now plans to move to the Cayman Islands once his daughter graduates high school this spring. 


You know the Cayman Islands, where the largest island, Grand Cayman, has a section called Hell.


Let's see, Rob Sherman and Hell.  It seems like a likely match.


But before sails off to paradise, he may want to watch the upcoming NHL Playoffs.


He may learn something about sportsmanship.

And now, the end is near...

As of this writing (late Sunday afternoon following the Cubs loss), election day is a little more than a day away.

Fortunately.

The April 5 election has, as we all know by now, its share of elections that have, to say the least, had some interesting campaigns.

• Indian Trails Library Referendum.  The library grew out of its humble beginnings in a house in Wheeling to its facility on Schoenbeck Road.   Despite the fact that more and more people think they can get by with Wikipedia, a Nook or  Kindle, a library, make that a good library, offers more than books and CDs.  Resources and programming are at the foundation of any library and residents in the district are fortunate to have a facility as comprehensive as the Indian Trails Public Library.  Of course, if you wave a checkbook around and yell movie in a crowded firehouse, you may think the referendum was robbing you blind.   For example, Rob Sherman, Buffalo Grove's answer to Lar "America First" Daly, thinks it's yet another conspiracy.  Maybe Robbypoo forgot that he spent a lot of time in libraries soaking up knowledge as a young annoyance.  Or maybe he did not need a library since he thought he knew everything anyway.  A forefront of any community is the strength of its ability to provide education -- schools and libraries are front and center and both need community support.  Sherman, as usual, is quick with ridicule and ideas -- but short, very short, on a record of action.

• The District 125 School Board Election.  While the current board has made some poor decisions, it's made up of people who can separate church and state.  Literally.   The 125for125 claim they're concerned about giving students choices and finances.  The reality is their platform is predicated on moral issues and imparting those on an entire student body.  This was the case in 2009 when members of the now slate called the school newspapers "pornography".  This in response to articles on "Hooking Up" (based on a New York Times report) and the Gay-Straight Alliance dance.  Staff members, one of whom is allegedly Gay, approved both articles.  That does not and should not impact the quality of education being delivered.  The slate has avoided issues of student expression, book banning and curriculum alteration based on its moral beliefs.  The bottom line is this -- the moral majority is neither.  Stevenson has a long tradition of academic excellence; and while the current board has thrown speed bumps and detours along the road, a board that puts its own morality about quality quality education would close the road.

And finally,

•   The Village Board races.  The race between Andrew Stein and Denice Bocek has all the excitement and interest of shopping for oatmeal.  They're both dedicated residents and they both want to serve for two years.  On the other hand, there's the race for Village Clerk, pitting incumbent Jan Sirabian against resident egomaniac and atheist Rob Sherman.  Sherman's platform is riddled with disrespect toward public officials, women, and the office in general.  Sherman is full of "ideas" that he thinks will improve things in the village -- yet he has yet to step up and do anything for the village.  Sirabian, like any public official, has had her ups and downs -- but she has done as stellar job of not stooping to Sherman's arrogance and boorish campaign tactics.  Sherman takes pride in exploiting women in a manner that's unbecoming a public official.  His latest allegation has been to tag Sirabian as "Dirty Tricks Jan."  Really?  Maybe Sherman needs to look in the mirror and take a look in the mirror.  What he may see is a series of blemishes in character, a record of non public service, and a history of publicity stunts to do little more than call attention to him.  Public service is not a "me first" proposition -- it's for the good of the whole.  Hopefully voters realize that and vote for the good of the entire village.