No more 'phoney' excuses -- just keep your hands off

As June morphed into July, much of the talk and banter on social media has focused on new laws, new taxes and, of course, Chance the Clapper.

            Of particular interest, especially in Buffalo Grove-themed groups on social media, has been the enforcement by the Buffalo Grove Police Department of the change in the Illinois law that make using wireless devices while driving a moving violation.

            At issue, as much as there can be issues on social media, was the level of enforcement. However, the reality, however, is the law hasn’t changed, just the consequences.

            And with any change comes a plethora of interpretations, mostly by drivers who take seemingly take offense on social media to enforcement by the Buffalo Grove police.

            The law, and now the enhanced enforcement, are pretty clear as to what drivers can – and cannot – do with their wireless devices while driving.

            Rather than rely on social media posts, I checked with Sgt. Michelle Kondrat, who coordinates the Traffic Unit for the Buffalo Grove Police Department because, my guess was, that she would probably have more accurate information than some folks on social media. Again, it was just a hunch.

            According to Kondrat, the key is that a wireless device should not be in your hand.

            Period.

And this, Kondrat says, applies to when you are stopped at a stoplight as well.

Not in your hand.

No en tu mano.

не в твоих руках.

Aapake haath mein nahin.

Bùzài nǐ shǒuzhōng.

            But as sure as the sparrows come back to Capistrano and the buzzards to Hinckley, someone will try and find a loophole best known as an excuse.

            There aren’t any.

            What do exist are a few exceptions.  For example, if you are at a railroad crossing waiting for a train for an extended period of time, you can manipulate your device. However, according to Kondrat, your vehicle needs to be in park or neutral.  The same holds true where traffic is stopped for an extended period of time due to construction. Slow traffic in a construction zone is not a time to grab your cell phone.

            It is acceptable, although many people may not think advisable, to make adjustments to equipment that Kondrat says “integrated into the vehicle” or even in a windshield or dashboard mount.

            So, what results in a motorist getting pulled over? “Most of the contacts are the result of the vehicle moving with phone in driver’s hand,” Kondrat says.

            Still not sure?  Check out the  law as approved by the state legislature.

            It’s not a new law, just new penalties.

Campaign has its own 'F bomb'

In his first inaugural address, Franklin D. Roosevelt told Americans “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

According to an analysis by the U.S. National Records and Archives, the speech “is particularly memorable for its attack on the psychology of the Great Depression.”

Ah, psychology – as in mind games.

While Buffalo Grove is not facing a crisis the magnitude of the Great Depression, campaigning for Village Board seats has degenerated to acrid and personal attacks which brings us to that word brought to you by the letter F.

Fear.

Fear can be a great motivator if not intimidator.

It’s role in a political campaign, at any level, is questionable.

In what appears to be a flurry of activity by Village Board trustee candidates Rachel Hausman Masse, Larry Steingold and Tim Kobler, fear has apparently become a key element. Two recently mailed flyers have targeted Village Board President candidate Mike Terson, which seems a bit odd because that’s not who they are running against. The three are supporting Terson’s opponent, incumbent Village Board President Beverly Sussman.

The first of the flyers targets questionable contributions to Terson’s campaign by Chuck Malk of CRM Properties and by Butera Center Management, which, according to the Daily Herald Town Center developer.., is a “Hoffman Estates-based company described on the Buffalo Grove Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce website as owner of the Chase Plaza shopping center at the corner of Lake-Cook and Arlington Heights roads.” Malk’s firm proposed a mega retail development in 2012 when Terson was a village trustee. Malk’s donation was for $5,000; Butera’s was for $1,000.

This image used in a campaign flyer by Rachel Hausman Masse, Lawrence Steingold and Tim Kobler depicts possible flooding in Buffalo Grove.  The image is of flooding in Houston, Texas

The Herald’s story details the nature of the donations, the background and responses by both Terson and Sussman. The ensuing flyer, which apparently was not sent to all residents, made for interesting reading. It’s likely that people who read it wondered what Terson was thinking. The flyer touts that Hausman Masse, Steingold and Kobler will fight Terson’s plan to “pave over Buffalo Grove Golf Course and spend $90 million of our tax dollars to eliminate the community’s vital green and open  spaces.” Typical campaign rhetoric.

The second flyer, which like the first appeared to have limited circulation, again targets Terson and not the other trustee candidates, screamed a headline “Flooding alert!” followed by “Mike Terson’s plan for Buffalo Grove.” This ran under a picture of what gives the connotation of massive flooding in Buffalo Grove. The back of the flyer includes panic-themed copy that Hausman Masse, Steingold and Kobler understand flooding.

Apparently, they don’t. Despite inferences by some folks on social media that they remember flooding like that, the truth is that flooding pictured never occurred in Buffalo Grove. The northwest suburbs endured torrential rains in the early 1980s, but not to the magnitude shown in the flyer.

That picture was not taken in Buffalo Grove. Or anywhere else in the northwest suburbs.  Or anywhere else in Cook County, or for that matter, in Illinois.

That picture is of storm water in Houston after Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

So, what does that image invoke? Fear. And this is what will happen if the golf course is paved over. So, they say. While there are no plans to develop the golf course, it makes for good reading and scare tactics.

While flooding, not matter where it is at can be horrific, the flooding shown in the flyer was from one of the strongest storms to ever hit Texas, let alone Houston. Not Buffalo Grove.

While it’s clear the flyer was sent out by Hausman Masse, Steingold and Kobler, questions were raised as to who else, if anyone, was involved.

The first finger was pointed at State Rep. Daniel Didech (R-59) because the flyers came shortly after many voters received a letter from Didech supporting Hausman Masse, Steingold and Kobler. It was sent out by “Friends of Rachel, Tim and Larry.”

There’s nothing wrong with a public figure or official endorsing candidates. Didech has endorsed Sussman as have former Lake County Board officials Sidney Mathias and David Stolman along with former Buffalo Grove Village Board president Elliott Hartstein. As if anyone cares.

Didech seems to have drawn the most fire because of his recent election to the state house in November.

In Facebook conversations with Didech, he confirmed that he is supporting Sussman and the Hausman Masse-Steingold-Kobler slate and has personally made a “small contribution” to the campaign.

In the scope of things, it’s no big deal who supports the slate.

Interestingly enough, Didech’s letter appeared to go to most residents while the panic-loaded flyers did not. It’s easy to have conjecture as the where they were sent, especially given the strength Sussman had four years ago in the areas with proximity to the golf course.

Does history repeat itself? Possibly. If it does, then the question is why didn’t Sussman take the lead on the flyers instead of three first-time candidates whose involvement in the village has been limited?

Residents should know not only why the message was sent, but by whom, especially since communication and transparency have been frequently discussed during this campaign.

As FDR said, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

That fear should not come from people seeking public office.

Voting Guide for the Village Board election

Here are links to the profiles of the candidates for Village Trustee and Village Board President. They are listed in alphabetical order.

Village Board President Profiles

Beverly Sussman: Beverly Sussman

Mike Terson: Mike Terson


Village Trustee Candidate Profiles


Rachel Hausman Masse: Rachel Hausman Masse

Tim Kolber:  Tim Kolber

Soojae Lee:  Soojae Lee

Adam Moodhe:  Adam Moodhe

Carolyn Pinta: Carolyn Pinta

 Gregory Pike:  Gregory Pike

Eric Smith:  Eric Smith

Lawrence Steingold: Lawrence Steingold

Dave Weidenfeld:  Dave Weidenfeld

Voting? Think Moynihan

Daniel Patrick Moynihan

With the 2019 election entering the home stretch, I am reminded of something the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, once said: "everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts."

And this was before the age of rampant social media.

I shudder to think what Moynihan, who died in 2003, would have to say about the information, make that misinformation, about candidates and issues flying around on mostly on various social media platforms.

It seems the more candidates there are, the more misinformation, or potential for misinformation, exists. Which raises the bar for voters to become educated about the candidates and the issues being tossed about. This seemed apparent during the recent Chicago mayoral primary when 14 Chicagoans ran in a bid to replace Rahm Emmanuel as Chicago’s boss. The glut of candidates, some pundits say, may have made it difficult for voters to decide for whom the should vote or, worse yet, if they would vote at all.

Tuesday’s Buffalo Grove village election faces similar challenges. Village Clerk Jan Sirabian has been reminding residents to vote for weeks. She has noted, and if anyone would know, Sirabian would, that a low voter turnout could result in a candidate winning by five or 10 votes.  Granted, that could happen in a large turnout, but with nine candidates vying for three spots as village trustee, the opportunity for a slim margin of victory is a real possibility.

Which is why Buffalo Grove voters need to note Moynihan’s pontification. The April 2 election is for Village Board, not student council. The village, and this is not breaking news, has some hefty issues in front of it from business and economic development to aging infrastructure.

The village doesn’t need cheerleaders or candidates with personal or business interests. It needs elected officials who are strategically acute and mindful of issues facing both sides of Lake-Cook Road.

People have asked me if I will endorse any candidates.

The answer is no. While I’m flattered that some people may value my opinion, it is, in my mind (which some people think could be a dangerous place to be) incumbent upon residents to do their own research and make up their own minds. This, by the way, means going beyond the Silly Putty that has been bouncing around on the aforementioned social media.

In any election, candidates have ideas, as well they should. The unfortunate reality is that in many cases the ideas are, as the late Al McGuire would say, little more than “seashells and balloons.”

There is plenty of information available about key issues facing the village online, at Village Hall and at the village’s website. The bottom line is this -- informed citizens make the best voters.

Conversely, transparent candidates make the best elected officials.  It’s one reason that when I decided to post candidate profiles, I posted their responses verbatim because it’s important for voters to hear directly from the candidates without my interpretation.

Do I have views about each candidate? Absolutely. They are based on not only what I have learned from their ideas, but how I think they would meld into what I know about village plans. A few people asked me if I had plans to run for Village Board. The answer was a quick no.

That’s not because I am not interested in serving the community, but because even though I attend nearly every Village Board meeting (yes, I must be crazy) I know my limitations in some key areas that would limit my effectiveness as a village board member.

If nothing else, in addition to learning about village plans for everything from economic development to the renovation of storm sewers, I have learned that being an elected village official takes more, as noted, than touting personal interests. It requires understanding the needs of the entire village and being prepared to learn the details and make logical and practical decisions – not emotional ones.

There is, however, a more important position in the village. As the late Louis Brandeis noted, “"The most important political office is that of the private citizen."

And to successfully hold that office, especially as election day approaches, it requires careful review of candidate’s positions, backgrounds and ideas so the officials we elect, whether to the village board or a school board, are the most qualified to serve the entire village.